iPods still a part of Apple's big picture

Just don't expect such changes to jump-start growth in the sales of traditional iPods.

"I don't think that's going to grow the market that much," said Ben Bajarin, director of consumer technology for Creative Strategies in Campbell, California.

It should, however, bolster Apple's holiday sales. After last year's iPod event, Apple sold nearly 21 million music players during the three-month period covering the 2009 holiday season--more than double the iPods sold in the previous three months. Still, that was an 8 percent drop from the year-ago holiday quarter.

Consolidation of the iPod line might happen in the near future, observers said: There may not be a need for both the nano and the shuffle, for example. But few analysts expect Apple to entirely abandon traditional-style iPods in favor of the touch.

"There is still quite a large audience that is price-sensitive that Apple still wants to target," Bajarin said. "It might not be the kind of booming, growing sales that the iPod Touch has ... but there is still a short-term role for an audience that is price-sensitive."