Apple announces it is discontinuing the iPod Touch

Tech giant Apple has halted the manufacture of the iPod Touch, the final portable music player in its product portfolio.

Apple now says that it will sell remaining iPod devices, which were first introduced in 2007, on a limited time offer.

The tech firm first introduced the iPod in 2001 before rolling out the touch variant, which closely resembles the iPhone 7, six years later.

Despite the move, Apple’s senior vice-president of worldwide marketing Greg Joswiak is optimistic that the spirit of the iPod will live on, noting that all iPhone products have incorporated features that have become synonymous with the iPod.

"We've integrated an incredible music experience across all of our products, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to HomePod mini, and across Mac, iPad, and Apple TV,” Joswiak said in a statement.

"And Apple Music delivers industry-leading sound quality with support for spatial audio - there's no better way to enjoy, discover, and experience music."

In spite of being well received by consumers, the now discontinued product’s days were numbered, according to Tony Fadell, one of the developers of the original iPod.

 “It became very clear to us that there was a real threat from mobile phones, feature phones. They were starting to add music, MP3 playing, to the cell phones that they were shipping at the time,” Fadell told the Verge in an interview.

 “At Apple, every single thing that was tried — at least under Steve — needed to ship because it was existential. You couldn’t make the iPhone successful because you were cannibalizing the iPod business.”