Some say the era of dedicated music players is nearly over, as smartphones are starting to become more and more popular for this purpose, but there are still plenty of people who would happily buy a well-made music player like an iPod. For what it’s worth, despite rumors that Apple might soon discontinue their line of iPods in favor of focusing more on the iPhone and iPad, the company hasn’t made any such statements yet, and they have given no indication that they want to cancel those products.
Still, we have no news about the iPod Touch 6G yet, even though there were rumors that Apple would unveil the new player in September. That didn’t happen, and a few other minor rumors came and passed in the next few months, still not leading up to any actual release.
Currently, the rumor mill claims that Apple are gearing up to release the device in April, or possibly even in September (this year). It’s not known why the player is taking so long to come to the market, but the most prominent rumor right now is that the popularity of the iPhone 6 has been the main reason.
It’s not clear in what way this has slowed down the development of the new iPod, but there are several possibilities. There are, at one point, rumors that Apple were having issues with their supply channels for some critical parts in the manufacturing of the iPod. Those parts were reportedly shared with the iPhone 6, and Apple gave the mobile phone full priority in resolving the situation.
If that’s true, it could definitely make sense, as Apple would be crazy to slow down the sales of their most popular device in favor of another one that they haven’t even officially announced yet; even more, a device that belongs to a shrinking market segment.
When the new iPod Touch 6G is eventually announced (if Apple really are still working on it), the device will reportedly have a lot in common with its “brother”, the iPhone 6. Similar form factor and overall design, and more or less the same software capabilities, minus of course any cellular functionality. If true, this means that Apple are continuing their standard design philosophy for the iPod Touch, making it a stripped-down version of the iPhone.
While it’s true that the music player market has been hit hard by the popularity of smartphones, there’s still a lot to gain from releasing a good, solid portable MP3 player, and Apple are one of the few companies that can truly pull that off and give customers something that they will actually want to buy.