Apple classic iPod now a hot retro item

Apple's iPod Classic has an enduring appeal.

Discontinued MP3 player with huge capacity selling strongly

One of this year's hottest Christmas presents is no longer available in the shops. Two months after Apple announced the demise of its iPod Classic MP3 player, the model is selling second-hand for up to four times its original price as aficionados clamour to get their hands on one.

With a storage capacity double the size of any current iPods, versions of the 160GB Classic - which can hold around 40,000 songs - are being sold as new via Amazon for up to 670 ($1367). More than 3000 of the models have been sold on eBay since the Classic was retired in October, most for between 350 and 500.

After Apple quietly pulled the Classic from its website, chief executive Tim Cook said the company no longer had access to the components and a redesign would have been too demanding.

As long ago as January 2013, Stuff magazine recommended buying an iPod Classic before it was too late, predicting it would double in price as soon as it went into retirement. Editor Will Findlater lamented its demise: "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."

The iPod Touch has taken the Classic's place as the Apple product with the biggest capacity, albeit only up to half of what used to be readily available. Findlater said he could not see the company making the Classic again, but another firm could step into the gap.

"The iPod's days have been numbered since the first iPhone, and the subscription model shows no signs of slowing down. Apple itself is transitioning into music subscriptions with iTunes Radio, and Google has just started trialling YouTube Music Key," he said. "Another company could make something equally good - there are some nice premium players like Sony's ZX1 and the Astell & Kern devices - but I don't think I'd buy one.."

The iPod Classic is not the first retro gadget to be surging in popularity again. Anna Wintour, editor-in-chief of American Vogue, was spotted clasping a flip phone. Rihanna has also returned to using a pre-smartphone era handset, while Iggy Pop recently confessed he owned a clamshell phone.

Versions of the Nokia 8210, epitomising an era when consumers wanted the smallest phone possible, are also ballooning in price in the secondhand market.

Similar-sized Ericsson and Motorola phones are on retro websites for hundreds of pounds.

Djassem Haddad, who started the site vintagemobile.fr in 2009, said: "Some people don't blink at the prices. The high prices are due to the difficulty in finding models which were limited editions in their time."