The iPod classic is dead, as is the iPod shuffle. That's the message coming from TUAW, who claims a source (not an analyst) as stating that both models are "getting the axe this year".

For the first time since 2005, Apple didn't hold a September event to announce super doopa new iPod models. In that year, the fifth generation classic was announced in October.

It's 10 years next month since Apple first unveiled the humble iPod, the model that evolved into the classic line.

The last major refresh for that range was in 2007 with the addition of the "classic" suffix when the iPod touch was first announced. Since then it has had only minor tweaks and had its storage capacity altered between 80GB, 120GB and 160GB.

The iPod shuffle, first announced in January 2005 and now on its fourth generation, obviously struggles in a mini MP3 player market in which its own brethren - the iPod nano - now dominates. For £131 you can have an Apple touch screen interface on a tiny scale, and that could essentially be the shuffle's downfall.

The invite to the 4 October Apple event makes no mention of the iPod at all, merely the message "let's talk iPhone".

And whilst there's rumours suggesting that the iPod touch could get an update, with a 3G version touted, there's been no talk regarding the poor old classic or the shuffle.

Could this be the end? Probably. Apple did mention in its latest annual earnings call that there would be a "product transition" within the company. And, despite shifting over 220 million iPods, the number of sales has been falling each year since 2008.

Still room for the classic and the shuffle? Let us know what you think using the comments below.