The launch of the iPhone terminal was definitely the best decision in Steve Jobs' career as CEO at Apple, the terminal being now the main source of income for the Cupertino company. Unfortunately, the popularity of the new smartphone led to a significant drop in sales of the iPod line, the company thinking very seriously to give up the production of iPod Classic and Shuffle. Those at TUAW have learned from sources inside the Apple company that the respective 2 iPod models will be discontinued this year following poor sales and the announcement could be made in within the presentation conference of iOS 5, iPhone 5 and iCloud on October 4.
We've been sitting on a tip for a while until things came into greater focus, but now that the speculation meter has exploded (see this CNet story), it's a good time to tell you all what we've heard. It seems that the "product transition" Apple mentioned on the last earnings call could very well be within the iPod line. Specifically, if you want to buy an iPod shuffle or iPod classic from Apple, you should do it sooner rather than later. We've heard those two iPods are getting the ax this year.
On October 24, it will be 10 years since Apple launched the first model of the iPod, a decade in which this small product revolutionized the music industry, but for Apple, a decade could be long enough. Since last year, there has been talk of stopping the sale of certain iPod models due to very poor sales, and this year could be the decisive one. For Apple, it would not matter much to give up the iPod Classic and Shuffle because the company is now focusing more on the iPhone/iPad, the devices that represent the future and that in a decade will probably be replaced by much better ones.
In conclusion, if you want an iPod, you'd better buy one after the October 4th conference because you might not find any on the market until the end of the year.
