The iPod is dead, long live the iPod

With the Classic receiving the marching orders last month, we already knew that the iPod's days were numbered. But Apple made that more official in its latest earnings call, confirming that as of Q1 2015 the iPod will appear in future sales reports under "Other products".

An insignificant bit of spring cleaning for Apple perhaps, but for the rest of us it shows that Cupertino just isn't focused on the iPod anymore, as it throws its music player in the drawer with headphones and accessories.

That's not hugely surprising, given the lack of a sixth-gen iPod Touch at this month's iPad event. In fact, the fifth-gen iPod Touch launched all the way back in September 2012, receiving just an incremental upgrade earlier this year.

So it's not totally dead in the water, but don't hold your breath for any significant updates coming any time soon.

As for everything else, the latest sales numbers broughts good news for the iPhone and Mac, but the results for the iPad were a little more concerning. Apple confirmed it has sold just over 12.3 million tablets in the last three months, which is a 13% drop compared to the same time period in 2013.

Bump in the road

"To me, I view it as a speed bump, not a huge issue," said Cook. "That said, we want to grow, we don't like negative numbers on these things." He also highlighted that Apple has sold 247 million tablets in the first four years, more than it sold over the first four years of iPhone. And indeed, Apple's still selling more tablets than many of its rivals combined.

However it's not the numbers themselves that are interesting, it's the reasons behind them. As Cook said himself, people are less likely to upgrade a tablet as frequently as they would their smartphone.

But that may only be half of the picture. In a world of bigger phones (including Apple's bulked up iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus), it's not crazy to ask if the the tablet is starting to become slightly less relevant.

  • Maybe Apple can turn things around with the iPad Air 2
Hugh Langley

Hugh Langley is the ex-News Editor of TechRadar. He had written for many magazines and websites including Business Insider, The Telegraph, IGN, Gizmodo, Entrepreneur Magazine, WIRED (UK), TrustedReviews, Business Insider Australia, Business Insider India, Business Insider Singapore, Wareable, The Ambient and more.

Hugh is now a correspondent at Business Insider covering Google and Alphabet, and has the unfortunate distinction of accidentally linking the TechRadar homepage to a rival publication.

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