The mad rush of Christmas is upon us and everyone is scrambling to pick up the hottest items for their friends and families, but according to a new report via The Guardian, this holiday season’s number one item is no longer available in shops, being effectively dead.
Yes, a mere two months after Apple quietly discontinued their iPod Classics, with their iconic click-wheel design, the model is now a highly coveted collector’s item and is being sold online for up to four times its original retail price.
According to The Guardian, the classic iPods are now being sold as new via Amazon for up to £670 (AU$1,256), while over 3,000 of the models — the last of which came out in 2010 — have been sold on eBay since October, most for between £350 and £500 (AU$656.30 and $937.58).
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Even refurbished older models are now fetching far more than their original price tag, which usually came in at about AU$268. It’s not so surprising, considering they boasted double the storage capacity of any current iPods, with the 160GB Classic able to hold around 40,000 songs.
After pulling the Classic from their official website, Apple chief executive Tim Cook said the company no longer had access to the components required to manufacture the iPod Classic and a redesign would prove far too demanding. Meanwhile, streaming services are converting more listeners every day.
For some, the sudden inflation in the price of iPod Classics isn’t surprising. In January 2013, Stuff magazine recommended readers buy a Classic before it’s too late, predicting that the item would double in price after going into retirement.
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“There’s still a huge affection for the iPod Classic and it’s not hard to see why – Spotify might offer 20 million songs, but 120GB of music is more than most people need, and your iTunes library doesn’t carry data charges or a subscription fee,” said editor Will Dunn.
The iPod Touch has effectively taken the Classic’s place as the Apple product with the largest capacity, though it only stores half of what used to be readily available, leaving music listeners with a desire to go running for eight hours looking to other companies to satisfy their needs.
So if you happen to have a 160GB iPod Classic still in the box, we highly recommend you chuck that sucker on eBay, because it may just end up covering all of your Christmas shopping expenses this season.
