Apple axes two iPod models, signifying change

It has been called “the end of an era.” It certainly brings with it the familiar twinge of nostalgia.

For anyone who came of age in the '90s or early 2000s, the iPod was the obligatory gadget. It seemed like everyone had one. And, in many ways, it was the iPod that helped bring Apple back from the brink of obscurity. It was the iPod that helped make Apple one of the world’s most successful companies, and make Steve Jobs a household name.

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For nearly a decade, the iPod was one of Apple’s major cash cows. According to Business Insider, the iPod generated 40 percent of the company’s overall revenue in 2006. Two years later, in 2008, the iPod peaked — with 54.8 million units sold worldwide. By that time, however, iPhone sales were also on the rise, so iPod sales only accounted for about 24 percent of the company’s total revenue.

In 2014 — the last year for which Apple released iPod sales data — the preeminent MP3 player only sold about 14.4 million units, accounting for just one percent of the company’s total sales.

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The decline of the iPod’s popularity can be attributed, in part, to the rise of streaming platforms like Spotify, Tidal and Pandora. Not only have music fans stopped purchasing physical albums, they have slowly stopped buying music altogether. Now, they just subscribe to the platform that best meets their needs.

And so, two weeks ago, Apple announced it would discontinue two iPod models — the iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle. That leaves the iPod Touch the last remaining model still in production. It’s worth noting that the Touch is the only model that runs on iOS, Apple’s proprietary operating software that iPhones use. It’s also the only model that allows for the streaming of music via Apple Music.

Neither the Nano nor the Shuffle had been updated in years, and many had long predicted they were being phased out. The announcement on July 27 only made it official.

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“Today, we are simplifying our iPod lineup with two models of iPod Touch, now with double the capacity, starting at just $199, and we are discontinuing the iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano," an Apple representative told Business Insider in an email.

Personally, I never purchased an actual iPod. I did, however, have an MP3 player. And it brought a great deal of enjoyment to my life for a while. But technology evolved quickly, and I found other ways of getting music. I haven’t used it in several years; in fact, I’m not real sure where it is.

Some have noted the irony in the fact that it was Apple’s own product — the iPhone — that played such an enormous role in rendering iPod’s obsolete. Of course, it didn’t happen on its own. Services like Spotify and Pandora wielded their own hammers in driving the nail into the MP3 player’s coffin. But Apple was astute, and evolved in such a way so as not to be left behind.

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Today, millions of owners use their iPhone to stream their favorite songs, even as fewer and fewer purchase the music through iTunes. If not for the Apple Music feature on the iPod Touch, I would suspect that it, too, is living on borrowed time.

However, I imagine Apple will continue to evolve in ways so as to remain relevant to consumers. In fact, the company is currently putting considerable resources into the marketing and promotion of products like the AirPod wireless headphones and HomePod — similar to Amazon Echo and Google Home.

Nevertheless, it certainly feels like the experts are onto something; the looming death of the iPod feels like the end of an era.

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Damien Willis is a columnist for Pulse, writing primarily about entertainment and pop culture. He may be reached at damienwillis@gmail.com or @damienwillis on Twitter.