While big announcements came today (Sept. 9) about the future of some Apple products, others were simply discontinued.
According to CNET, the iPod Classic, which debuted in 2007, was nowhere to be found when the company's store came back online around noon. Apple has been moving more toward touchscreen music players recently, in addition to fighting a rough battle with smartphone competitors. The company made big announcements for its iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch earlier today.
Apple's first iPod broke down music barriers in 2001 and was a top product until 2009 when the company saw its sales peak, CNET notes. The numbers started to fall off for the iPod as the iPhone's popularity increased and other companies stepped up their smartphone functionality. Shortly after Apple came out with the Classic, the iPod Touch hit stores. In June, the company updated the Touch model with new camera technology and brought down the price. CNET points out that after three quarters in 2014, the iPod division has yet to reach half of what it made in 2013.
Aside from other MP3 players, the iPod also had to compete with streaming services like Spotify in addition to satellite radio.
"If there was ever a product that catalyzed what's Apple's reason for being, it's this," Steve Jobs said about the iPod in 2001. "Because it combines Apple's incredible technology base with Apple's legendary ease of use with Apple's awesome design, it's like, this is what we do. So if anybody was ever wondering why is Apple on the earth, I would hold this up as a good example."
RIP, Classic.
