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Apple Is Finally Acknowledging Its Declining iPod Sales

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We all know that the iPod is slowly making its way out the door, but for years Apple was trying to ignore that fact and attempt to keep the business alive, even if they knew that there was really nothing they could do. iPod sales have kept declining year-over-year with no good ending in sight.

However, it seems Apple is finally throwing in the towel. After Apple announced its Q1 2014 earnings yesterday, the company acknowledged in its earnings call that it has “known for some time that iPod is a declining business,” yet it has failed to acknowledge iPod sales in its past press releases and earnings call. Could this acknowledgement that we heard yesterday finally be the nail in the coffin?

iPod

Apple sold a whopping 51 million iPhones during the holiday season, while only selling a measly 6 million iPods, which is a 52% decrease compared to the same time period a year ago. That’s one of the biggest drops that the iPod has seen in the last few years.

Then again, Apple isn’t too disappointed in those numbers. The iPhone was made to cannibalize the iPod and it did a great job of that. For every iPod that doesn’t sell, Apple sells multiple iPhones to take its place.

So does this mean that Apple will finally kill off the iPod for good? It certainly hasn’t done anything with the iPod Classic in years, and it’s been a while since we’ve seen anything new develop as far as the iPod touch and iPod nano. Apple hinted that a new iPod wouldn’t be coming anytime soon — at least not early this year, as the company expects iPod sales to decline even more going into the next quarter.

ipod touch 6th generation release Apple

Apple hasn’t fully updated an iPod since 2012, and the company’s most-recent updates include a measly additional color for the iPod touch, iPod nano and iPod shuffle at its September 2013 iPhone event, where customers could get a matching Space Gray color option that’s also available for the iPhone and iPad.

The iPod Classic, on the other hand, remains untouched now for over four years. Apple hasn’t necessarily discontinued the device officially, but it’s sure looking that way. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the company put the final touches on the grave of the iPod Classic in the near future.

2 Comments

2 Comments

  1. Chris

    01/28/2014 at 7:35 pm

    What about us people with 40,000+ song libraries? I’m sorry, but no streaming service or rinky dink 64gb iphone is going to accommodate that kind of collection. The ipod classic prob costs next to nothing to produce, just keep them around.

  2. Rodrigo

    01/30/2014 at 2:54 am

    I’d pay a bit more for a smartphone with the Classic’s storage.

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