“The iPod shuffle, which Apple introduced to conquer the low-end MP3 player market at the start of 2005, will no longer be sold after current inventory sells out. Current inventory numbers are reportedly high,” The Spymac Team reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “WillieG” for the heads up.]
MacDailyNews Take: No source given for this rumor, so many grains of salt and all that.
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That’s because they will have something to replace it. I love my Shuffle, great for jogging.
Wow, that’s too bad. I love my Shuffle for mowing the lawn, swimming (with an OtterBox case) and other uses. Yeah, my Video iPod is cool, but the Shuffle is very handy!
and i’m super sad about it
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maybe it got lost in the shuffle.
Horse crap. We’re a relatively small local and online reseller. We’ve sold 2300 512mb shuffles this year so far with nearly 400 still being from just this month so far. They’re not gonna just outright axe something selling that well. Not without a replacement, at least.
Yawn. This rumor again? Certainly Apple will redesign the Shuffle eventually but every reason for developing a cheap, low-end, extra-simple version of the iPod still exists today.
and you’re not getting it back!
The Shuffle is the most underrated iPod in the lineup.
It’s perfect for listening to music “on the run!”
Unless, of course the Nano’s get a price reduction, maybe a 512mb version and then become the base version. The full size iPod could get a smaller version as well and cover the old Nano market and up and then they launch a new high-end, flying, touchscreen video iPod.
I’m convinced.
Love the Shuffle!
Bought a 1 gig version instead of a USB memory stick, and I use it for music AND storage. Perfect complement to my iPod.
The continued success of the nano — and shuffle, according to Reseller –means Apple is getting their wholesale flash memory cheaper than dirt. They can probably push their suppliers even more, since they are ordering such huge volume. Given this, I don’t think it’s unreasonable that they could reduce the shuffle’s price to $49. Maybe even $39. Then they would truly have moved one (and only one) of their products out of the high-end market into the “make pennies on a sale, but sell kazillions” mass market. I mean really mass market — put them next to the phone cards and razor blades at Wal-Mart checkout lines. It would make for an interesting experiment…
They better not! mine has been doubling as a trade secret stealer of the hard drive at work (Taco Bell)
Nano is getting a price reduction as it will now be the low end model.
At the top end will be a new video iPod that’s totally flash based.
It will be introduced very soon.
undercover marketing
::posting from a store::
yup, confirmed rumor.
in 3 hours we should hear how well it’s selling above expectations.
You don’t know jack about the historical distortion of unsubstantiated rumors. I surely and undoubtedly do.
This is a curious decision if true. I would have bet that most shuffles were “second iPods” which means mostly incremental income for Apple.
Guess I’m wrong about that.
“They better not! mine has been doubling as a trade secret stealer of the hard drive at work (Taco Bell)”
ROFLMAO
The iPod Shuffle was/is great for my disabled brother. He’s severly brain injured and cannot comprehend what he reads whatsoever. The iPod Nano or another iPod with a screen would have been way too much for him.
The simplicity of just four buttons (with no screen) was ideal for him. We just update his iPod when we visit his house and he’s good to go.
If that’s the case, I’ll buy about 5 of them to make sure he has a goo supply of them. He’s also hard, very hard on his equipment. We buy him a VCR/DVD player about once a year..and he’s gone through a large number of remote controls to his TV..
Christopher Powers
p.s. I prefer the Shuffle when I’m either at the gym or out on a photo shoot. Its small, compact, and I don’t have time to change playlists, manage menus, etc..
Christopher Powers –
That was a great post, but this is MDN, not my Myspace
MDN MW: Major, as in major Jerk!
You don’t know the history of being reportedly high. I do.
Are they gonna replace it with the piqueno?
My spouse’s first iPod was the Shuffle — I bought him a Nano for Christmas but he’s never used it; the Shuffle is much more useful for when he’s working out. I even bought myself one to use for my workouts — loaded a bunch of good upbeat tunes on it and I’m good to go.
If someone would come up with a good line of Nano cases that can hang around the neck (some folks don’t like having stuff strapped to their arms), that would be cool, and make the Nano a decent substitute for the Shuffle. I remember a local gym giving away Shuffles with enrollment about a year or so ago — maybe some case company could produce specially branded Nano cases.
MW=makes; when we’re trying to get people to move their bodies, an MP3 player like the Shuffle makes a lot of sense…
i’ve had a photo ipod and ipod video (capable), but i found that i used the shuffle by far the most – and sold the former two. very handy to keep in a coat pocket and operate. if it is replaced, i hope they replace it with something just as simple to use.