The Day the iPod shuffle & nano Died
The iPod shuffle & iPod nano may be small, but together they helped Apple dominate the portable music marketplace and propelled the company into becoming the tech giant is it today.
Three years ago, on July 27, 2017, Apple discontinued the iPod nano & iPod shuffle. In a snippet provided to Business Insider, Apple stated:
"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."
With no fond farewell or fanfare, Apple silently removed two of its iconic iPods from the product lineup. But who could blame them? Even in 2014, the iPods (collectively!) accounted for less than 1% of Apple's revenue, and the growth of the Apple Watch & Apple's streaming strategy - Apple Music - left the shuffle & nano on the outside looking in as Apple forged ahead on their new music strategy. Products of their time both the shuffle & nano were never updated to load music from the Apple Music catalogue, & both required a Mac or PC to sync audio onto the device (no iPhone, iPad, or wireless music management).
Both the shuffle & nano had a good run. The shuffle was introduced by Steve Jobs back in early 2005 and saw four distinct design revisions during its 12-year sales period. The shuffle was positioned as a screenless $99 music player that meant to go after the low end of the MP3 player market. After that market was handily decimated, the iPod shuffle evolved into a sturdy, clippable (generations 2-4 all had clips while the first generation had a stylish lanyard vibe going for it), take-wherever-you-want iPod. This made the shuffle a relatively inexpensive device that was desirable for gyms, running, outdoors and travel. And as a testament to that, I routinely saw people at my local gym donning a shuffle into 2020.
The iPod nano was launched four years after the original iPod, where Steve gave a tongue-in-cheek nod to the original "1000 songs in your pocket" slogan Apple used to announce the original iPod. This time, however, he unveiled a jaw-droppingly thinner, lighter, and more refined product than any other iPod that came before it. It was exquisite! The iPod nano was sold for just shy of 12 years (11 years, ten months) and saw seven quite distinct redesigns during its time. The iPod nano's design was in constant flux throughout the years. Iterations featured a wide assortment of colours, an integrated video camera (wasn't that an odd revision?), a clip one year ripped straight off the next, and from the design, one year being tall-and-lean to the next year looking short-and-squat.
It might seem insignificant now, but in its heyday, the iPod made up the lions share of Apple's revenue, and regularly crested north of 50+ million units sold each year until the iPhone gained a footing. I don't think it would be a reach to say that the iPod helped propel Apple into the powerhouse it is today, it just has to be sacrificed in the process.
