Apple iPod Discontinues after 21 years

Apple has stated that the iPod Touch, the company’s final remaining portable music player, will be discontinued. The company claims in a news release that it will sell the existing Touch “while stocks last.”

While Apple may have stopped selling dedicated music players, it claims that “the spirit of iPod lives on” in all of its music-playing products, including the iPhone, iPad, and HomePod Mini.

The move marks the end of the iPod product line, as well as the handheld device that helped transform the entertainment business two decades ago.

Apple said it will continue to sell remaining iPod Touch devices for $199 each on its website until supplies run out. The smartphone is available in six colors, including silver, pink, blue, and gold, and comes in 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB capacities.

It’s difficult to blame the company for this. The majority of consumers aren’t interested in carrying a second gadget that can accomplish everything their smartphone can (see also: the drying up of the point-and-shoot camera market). In an interview, Tony Fadell, one of the original iPod’s developers, stated that the iPod team was aware that the iPhone will eventually overtake music players. “It became evident to us that mobile phones, particularly feature phones, posed a serious threat.” He explained that “they were starting to integrate music, MP3 playback, to the cell phones they were distributing at the time.”