Almost six years after the iPod touch first launched in 2007, Apple is celebrating a milestone: It’s sold 100 million of the pocket-sized media players.
Since Apple first introduced the first-generation iPod in 2001, transforming both the portable music player and music industry, the company has sold an estimated 350 million devices.
On Thursday, the company unveiled the latest update to the iPod touch line, and it’s actually a bit of a downgrade: It’s the fifth-generation iPod touch without a rear-facing camera (it still has the 1.2 megapixel front-facing camera) and only two color choices (silver or black). It also has just 16 GB of storage.
Those trade-offs, however, also result in the lowest priced fifth-gen device: $229. The original fifth-generation iPod touch includes two cameras and starts at $299 for the 32 GB model (a 16 GB iPad mini costs just $30 more). Beyond those differences, though, the new iPod touch is identical in features and size (still 6 mm thick) to the full-featured fifth-generation model.
Apple argue that the new iPod touch replaces the fourth-generation iPod touch and noted that more than half of all iPods the company currently sells are iPod touches. Apple had nothing to share regarding sales or changes to the tinier iPod nano.
While Apple doesn’t break out exact holiday sales figures, Apple told us that the iPod touch sold well last holiday season. A recent Nielsen report said 36% of surveyed children wanted an iPod touch for the holidays.
On the other hand, the iPod touch’s broad appeal is clearly shrinking. Last quarter Apple reported that it sold 5.6 million iPods, a 26% drop year-over-year.
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