Apple iPod Classic was killed off due to a lack of parts, admits Tim Cook
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Apple's Classic iPod (pictured) was silently removed from the tech firm's online store in September due to a lack of parts, said boss Tim Cook
Amidst the furore of the iPhone 6 launch in September, Apple silently killed off its Classic iPod.
But it wasn't a drop in sales that brought about its demise, according to boss Tim Cook, instead it was blamed on a lack of mechanical parts.
Speaking at the WSJD Live conference, Mr Cook said the tech giant no longer had access to the components needs to make the once iconic music player.
And although sales for the product had fallen significantly in recent years, sourcing parts was the final nail in the coffin.
Mr Cook added the firm could have redesigned the gadget with different parts, but it wouldn't have been cost-effective and would have involved a 'massive' task.
'We couldn't get the parts anymore, not anywhere on Earth,' explained Mr Cook.
'It wasn't a matter of me swinging the axe, saying "What can I kill today?"
The Classic was the Apple's first digital music player, and although the original debuted in 2001, there were six generations released up until 2007.
When Apple's online store came back online following its iPhone 6 event in September, this later model was missing from the iPod lineup.
Apple did not make any formal announcement about ceasing the line at the time.
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According to an earnings report earlier this year, Apple's iPod Classic sales in the final quarter of 2013 dropped 52 per cent year-on-year.
Apple also lost 55 per cent in revenue on all models of the music player, compared to the previous year, and the iPod makes up less than 2 per cent of the company's overall income.
The drop in sales is attributed to the increase in music apps, cloud storage and streaming services including Spotify.
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When Apple's online store came back online following its iPhone 6 event, the sixth-generation iPod Classic model was missing from the iPod lineup (pictured). Apple did not make any formal announcement about ceasing the line
According to an earnings report earlier this year, Apple sold 6 million iPods in the final quarter of 2013. Although that was almost double the sales of the previous three months, it equated to a 52% drop in sales year-on-year. The drop is being attributed to the increase in music apps, cloud storage and streaming services
Additionally, Apple iPhones come with iTunes built-in, making the iPod redundant for most iPhone owners.
The trend wasn't helped by the fact Apple hadn't released a new version of the music player since the fifth-generation Touch, and seventh-generation Nano launched in 2012.
Sales of iPods were at their highest during 2008 following the launch of the first iPod Touch at the end of 2007.
The iPod Touch was designed to look like an iPhone, played music and ran apps, but could not make calls.
The peak in sales in 2008 was attributed to the launch of the first iPod Touch (left) at the end of 2007. The iPod touch was designed to look like an iPhone, played music and ran apps, but could not make calls. This was followed by the popular, colourful fourth-generation iPod Nano (right)
Similar sales were seen across 2009 thanks to the launch of the third-generation Shuffle, fourth-generation Nano and second-generation Touch.
Since January this year, reports claim Apple has sold around 12 million units, which is less than half of 2013 sales figures.
The highest capacity iPod now available is the 64GB version of the iPod touch, which costs £249 in the UK and $299 in the US.
Customers may still be able to get their hands on an iPod Classic through third-party retailers, until stock runs out.
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