Apple iPod Shuffle And Classic Might Get The Axe This Year

Scuttlebutt going around the web says that Apple might be planning to kill off a couple of the iPods in its lineup that have been around for a long time. According to TUAW the two iPods that its source says are getting the axe are the iPod classic and the iPod shuffle. Apparently on the last earnings call Apple dropped a mention that there would be a product transition. What products would be in transition weren't specified on the call. I think many of us though the talk was of the new iPhone 5.

The TUAW source claims that the transition is in the iPod line and that the two iPods will be killed off. The iPod line has been around for a long time and all of them use flash storage today except the classic that uses a normal HDD to store its tunes. The shuffle on the other hand is the only iPod that has no LCD and is only marginally cheaper than the nano minus the screen.

Another fact supporting the axe of the iPods is that once these two are gone all of the line will use touchscreens. Considering Apple has made a name for itself in the touchscreen world over the years that is no surprise either. Naturally, the identity of the source isn't divulged, but TUAW notes the source isn't an analyst. My money is on someone in the supply chain that may have knowledge of cancelled orders.

[via TUAW]