Apple discontinues final iPod model after 2-decade run
CUPERTINO – More than two decades after helping spark a revolution on how music was consumed, Apple announced Tuesday it is discontinuing its final model of the iPod.
In a written statement, the Cupertino-based company confirmed it was discontinuing the iPod Touch, which was first sold in 2007. The latest version was introduced in 2019.
"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, the company's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. "Today, the spirit of iPod lives on."
With the rise of music streaming, including the company's own, Joswiak said music can be enjoyed on iPhones and iPads, along with the company's computers and smart speakers.
Introduced by Steve Jobs in October 2001, the first iPod offered users a chance to store "1,000 songs in your pocket," which was unprecedented at the time. While not the first MP3 player on the market, the player's small size and click wheel interface launched a revolution in music consumption. In 2003, Apple launched the iTunes store, where customers were able to purchase single tracks for 99 cents.
"We would not have the iPhone as it is today if it weren't for the iPod," CNET Editor at Large Ian Sherr told KPIX 5.
"The iTunes store, the music, the movies, the apps. All that stuff came from ideas that were seeded with the iPod," Sherr went on to say.
While Apple struggled through much of the 1990s, the iPod helped usher in an era of numerous successes for the company, including the iPhone, iPad and a slew of digital services. Earlier this year, the company became the first in the U.S. to reach a $3 trillion valuation.
Apple said sales of the iPod Touch will continue while supplies last.
Kenny Choi contributed reporting.
