Apple's iPod touch reaches 100 million sales milestone

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Apple on Thursday revealed that its iPod touch portable media player has reached sales of 100 million units since it first came to the market in late 2007.

The milestone was revealed to Jim Dalrymple of The Loop on the same day that Apple launched a new low-end model for $229. The latest entry-level iPod touch features a 4-inch Retina display and dual-core A5 chip, but lacks a rear-facing iSight camera and "loop" wrist strap

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Apple's announcement is particularly interesting because the company has not historically offered a breakdown of sales among different iPod models. The iPod touch is the only iPod that runs Apple's iOS platform, with access to the App Store and built-in iTunes download support.

The company has routinely said during its quarterly earnings reports that the iPod touch accounts for more than half of all iPod sales. But market watchers have been left to speculate just how many iOS device sales the iPod touch has represented.

But total iPod sales continue to dwindle as the iPhone cannibalizes Apple's portable media player lineup. In addition to the iPod touch, the company's current lineup includes the iPod nano, iPod shuffle, and the iPod classic.

The iPod touch lineup was last refreshed in October of 2012, when the higher-end 32- and 64-gigabyte models were given the same size 4-inch Retina display as the iPhone 5, as well as Apple's new, smaller Lightning connector. With Thursday's update, those features are now available on the $229 16-gigabyte model as well.

The first iPod touch was released on Sept. 14, 2007, following the launch of the first-generation iPhone.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 20
    gazoobeegazoobee Posts: 3,754member
    Classic being discontinued in 3, 2, 1 ...

  • Reply 2 of 20
    blackbookblackbook Posts: 1,361member
    That's surprising. I thought Apple reached that milestone with the Touch awhile ago.

    Anyway, the new $229 model was a good move, and I think we'll see something similar with the iPhone this year.

    No more 3.5 inch models with 30 pin connectors. Everything is moving to 4 inch and Lightning.
  • Reply 3 of 20


    The fact that this was announced via Jim D entrenches his status as a true insider. Wonder whose photos he has.  :)


     


    With only a front-facing camera, I wonder if this will come to be known as the FaceTime iPod Touch.


     


    Is this a canary for the much reported low end iPhone?

  • Reply 4 of 20

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Gazoobee View Post



    Classic being discontinued in 3, 2, 1 ...

     


    And if it continues, will it move to Lightning?

  • Reply 5 of 20
    hydrhydr Posts: 146member


    Apple celebrates with increasing the price with $30USD and removing the camera.


     


    *HOORAY*

  • Reply 6 of 20
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    blackbook wrote: »
    That's surprising. I thought Apple reached that milestone with the Touch awhile ago.

    Anyway, the new $229 model was a good move, and I think we'll see something similar with the iPhone this year.

    No more 3.5 inch models with 30 pin connectors. Everything is moving to 4 inch and Lightning.
    m

    Not soon enough.
  • Reply 7 of 20
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    I would be curious to see the breakdown of sales per year ...

    When the iPhone first came out when smartphones were expensive, before cellphones were ubiquitous, and had started replacing land lines, and becoming mandatory for school kids for "safety", with half the potential customers still under 2 year contracts, I would presume the Touch was a much higher seller than it is today, now that an iPhone does everything the Touch does, but better, and consolidates the phone into one device. Who even buys a Touch anymore? What's the demographic going forward?

    I disagree the Classic is on its way out. When Tim Cook describes the Classic as capacious, he defines he market for it. Until flash RAM is as affordable as the hard drive GB for GB, I see them keeping it around a bit longer.
  • Reply 8 of 20
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    And if it continues, will it move to Lightning?

    It will. I'd say it could be the end of the road this year, when the 128GB touch is introduced. But a good reason it'll stay around is I'd say per unit it's a decent money maker for Apple. The question is, does it sell enough to exist any longer?
  • Reply 9 of 20
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    hydr wrote: »
    Apple celebrates with increasing the price with $30USD and removing the camera.

    *HOORAY*

    Larger screen, Siri.
  • Reply 10 of 20
    blackbookblackbook Posts: 1,361member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Ireland View Post





    m



    Not soon enough.


     


    That does make me wonder why Apple didn't just do this at launch.


     


    Instead of keeping around the 2 year old model, they could have at launch just had the new models starting at $229. I doubt prices of components changed much between then and now. I guess, they did it so they could make higher margins during the Christmas holiday.

  • Reply 11 of 20
    blackbookblackbook Posts: 1,361member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by StruckPaper View Post


    The fact that this was announced via Jim D entrenches his status as a true insider. Wonder whose photos he has.  :)


     


    With only a front-facing camera, I wonder if this will come to be known as the FaceTime iPod Touch.


     


    Is this a canary for the much reported low end iPhone?



     


    I think this points to the discontinuation of the iPhone 4 and 4S.


     


    If that's the case it leaves room for a new handset at the $449/$0 price, whatever that ends up looking like. This year I would presume Apple plans to finally move all of their currently sold products to Lightning.

  • Reply 12 of 20
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member

    Is this why there was no 16 GB version of the 5th gen iPod Touch announced in September? But why did they wait until now to release it? Were they waiting to deplete the 4th gen inventory of 16 GB units?

  • Reply 13 of 20
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by blackbook View Post


     


    I think this points to the discontinuation of the iPhone 4 and 4S.


     


    If that's the case it leaves room for a new handset at the $449/$0 price, whatever that ends up looking like. This year I would presume Apple plans to finally move all of their currently sold products to Lightning.



    Either iP4 or iP4S or both will be continued in September or whenever iP6 (or iP5S) will be announced. Moving the whole product line to Lightning is indeed inevitable. So perhaps we will only see iP5 and iP6/iP5S starting some time in the fall.

  • Reply 14 of 20
    stelligentstelligent Posts: 2,680member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by blackbook View Post


     


    That does make me wonder why Apple didn't just do this at launch.


     


    Instead of keeping around the 2 year old model, they could have at launch just had the new models starting at $229. I doubt prices of components changed much between then and now. I guess, they did it so they could make higher margins during the Christmas holiday.



    It's an assumption but not a given that margins are notedly higher for "older" generations of products. But component costs for the current generation of a product do not automatically go down when you upgrade to a new gen. 

  • Reply 15 of 20
    mac_128mac_128 Posts: 3,454member
    ireland wrote: »
    It will. I'd say it could be the end of the road this year, when the 128GB touch is introduced. But a good reason it'll stay around is I'd say per unit it's a decent money maker for Apple. The question is, does it sell enough to exist any longer?

    It's true. Apple would be foolish not to upgrade to lighting before they discontinue it, given that people who love the classic, really swear by them. If they learned the Classic were being discontinued, the switch to lightning, might actually encourage them all to upgrade to get the new lighting connector.

    Is there any chance the disk capacity could be increased one more time before they discontinue it? That would also encourage new sales ...
  • Reply 16 of 20
    That's 1 iPod touch sold every 2 seconds since it's launch! Or 33 per minute.
  • Reply 17 of 20
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by DavidMarques View Post

    That's 1 iPod touch sold every 2 seconds since it's launch! Or 33 per minute.




    So 30 a minute.

  • Reply 18 of 20

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post




    So 30 a minute.



    Basically, 1.10545120096 every 2 seconds. I didn't go anal on the decimal rounding.

  • Reply 19 of 20
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member
    mac_128 wrote: »
    It's true. Apple would be foolish not to upgrade to lighting before they discontinue it, given that people who love the classic, really swear by them. If they learned the Classic were being discontinued, the switch to lightning, might actually encourage them all to upgrade to get the new lighting connector.

    Is there any chance the disk capacity could be increased one more time before they discontinue it? That would also encourage new sales ...

    I think you were agreeing with me, but your comment gives the impression you didn't even read my comment.
  • Reply 20 of 20
    irelandireland Posts: 17,798member

    So 30 a minute.

    It's 33. He was rounding the figure. Don't be so snarky.
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