SAN FRANCISCO: Apple is discontinuing the iPod more than 20 years after the device became the face of portable music and kickstarted its evolution into the world’s biggest company.
Since its introduction over 20 years ago, iPod has captivated users all over the world who love the ability to take their music with them on the go.
The iPod Touch, the only version of the portable music player still being sold, will be available till supplies last, Apple said in a blog post on Tuesday.
Since its launch in 2001, the iPod took on a storm of competing music players before being eclipsed by smartphones, online music streaming and within the Apple pantheon, by the rise of the iPhone.
“Music has always been part of our core at Apple, and bringing it to hundreds of millions of users in the way iPod did impacted more than just the music industry — it also redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
“Today, the spirit of iPod lives on. We’ve integrated an incredible music experience across all of our products, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to HomePod mini, and across Mac, iPad, and Apple TV. And Apple Music delivers industry-leading sound quality with support for spatial audio — there’s no better way to enjoy, discover, and experience music.”
The iPod has undergone several iterations since its inception featuring a scroll wheel, the capacity to store 1,000 songs and a 10-hour battery-life. The version that has been carried till date – the iPod Touch – was launched in 2007, the same year as the iPhone. Apple stopped reporting iPod sales in 2015.
