Apple to kill iPod classic?

Anthony Caruana
Tuesday, 31 August 2010 13:26

Your IT - Mobility

Apple has never been scared to kill off products - even when they seem to be successful. When the iPod nano was introduced it resulted in Apple killing off its highest selling line - the iPod Mini. So, with iPod sales in decline, will Apple put the axe to the goose that has laid so many golden eggs?

Over the last three years, Apple’s business has changed substantially. The introduction and monstrous success of the iPhone has changed the face of personal communications and the iPad is set to follow suit with personal computing. However, that’s come at a cost with iPod sales now at the same levels as 2006.

There’s little doubt that a significant part of Apple’s market strength and brand recognition comes from the iPod. While it wasn’t the first, or even best featured, portable digital music player of its time, it did capture the market in a way that had many scratching their heads. It wasn’t long after the iPod’s launch in 2001 that the term ‘Ipod halo” was coined to describe how the iPod had brought customers into Apple’s stores to buy new Macs to go with their iPods.

However, times have changed and Apple now has a larger share in desktop and notebook computers than it has in many years. The iPhone is one of the most popular consumer devices around and Apple is selling about a million iPads each month. But with that success, the iPod has become a casualty with sales plummeting.

Tomorrow, Apple will be running it’s annual music event. This is the one where Apple talks about how iconic and successful the iPod is, the market share of the iTunes store - the largest seller of music on the planet and then announces their new and updated product lines for the next year.

Predicting what Apple is going to announce is about two parts guesswork and one part magic. Apple holds back product news so that every announcement is a surprise. However, that’s not stopping us. Here’s what we’re guessing will come tomorrow.