As companies move forward with new, exciting products, it’s inevitable that they need to phase out older, less inventive products. It looks like Apple is doing just that, as they might be discontinuing the iPod classic and iPod shuffle.

TUAW says that they have been “sitting on a tip” for a little while now, and an unidentified source has told them that both the iPod classic and shuffle are both going to be gone by the end of the year.

Here’s what they had to say regarding to veracity of this report –

Obviously we can’t divulge our source, but it is NOT an analyst. Most of us listen to analyst predictions with the proverbial grain of salt (or bag of salt). We feel pretty confident that Apple will soon discontinue the shuffle and classic, and we see few changes coming for the iPod touch

Getting rid of the iPod classic seems like an understandable decision. I have an iPod Classic and have loved it for years, but it truly is a relic of the past. I mean, the iPod Touch is the same device – except minus the wheel and add the touch screen, apps, and wi-fi capability. The only problem is that its max version is a 64 GB version, where the Classic offers 160 GB of storage.

It’s sad to see it go, but it makes sense.

For some, I can see how getting rid of the shuffle would be a little harder to understand. It’s Apple’s smallest mp3 player and their cheapest. Basically, it’s a nano without the screen – but this is precisely what some people want. Just going on personal experience, I know a lot of people who use shuffles for exercising. The fact that it’s so tiny and hassle-free has carved it a niche.

It’s possible that all of this could be announced on or around Apple’s October 4th iPhone event.

What do you think? Should Apple discontinue these devices? Would you be sad to see them go? Let us know in the comments.