Apple terminates iPod Nano and Shuffle after 12 years

The company cancels the sales of the two music players on Thursday, although, the iPod product line is still very much alive. Apple plans to continue the sales of its internet-connected iPod Touch.

What’s the point of having iPods? When you can easily store or stream your tunes on your smartphones. Apples has long predicted this as more people bought iPhones and other smartphones capable of playing any kind of music. The era of possessing iPods is slowing fading away.

Thee Nano and Shuffle came out in 2005 as smaller alternatives to Apple’s standard iPod and also relatively cheap. The Cupertino, California Company stopped updating Nano and Shuffle several years ago.

In a show of its commitment and dedication to the production of iPod Touch, Apple doubled the storage capacity of its top-of-line model to 128 gigabytes, which costs $300. An iPod Touch with 32 gigabytes of storage sells for $200.The company's sales of iPods peaked in its fiscal year 2008 when the devices generated revenue of $9.2 billion. The then-nascent iPhone accounted for $1.8 billion in revenue that same year.

Last year, the iPhone generated revenue of about $136 billion. Sales of iPods have plunged by so much that Apple no longer provides specifics about the devices in its financial statements.

The iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle have played their final notes for Apple and are ready to leave the market, giving room for the iPod Touch.