Apple Shedding the Shuffle?

The company typically sells down inventory of models it plans to replace well in advance of actually introducing replacement models. Prior to introducing the flash-based nano in September, the company bled down its inventory of iPod minis, the model the nano supplanted. The strategy resulted in disappointing iPod shipments in the company's fiscal fourth quarter.

Another possible hint from Apple that it plans to replace the 1GB shuffle is that its Web store says it doesn't expect to have the device in stock again until mid-January. That would come just after Macworld, the annual gathering of Apple product developers and enthusiasts. Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced the shuffle at Macworld last January.

Since then, Apple has updated or replaced its two other iPod lines, swapping the mini for the nano and then in October, adding video-playing capabilities and bigger screens to the company's top-of-the-line hard drive-based iPods.

In other words, the shuffle line may be due for an update.

Apple rumor Web sites and analysts have speculated on what the company might do next with its shuffle line. Among the possibilities: a smaller design or replacing the 1GB shuffle with a 1GB nano. Unlike the shuffle models, the nanos have a screen and a wafer-thin design.