We've been sitting on a tip for a while until things came into greater focus, but now that the speculation meter has exploded (see this CNet story), it's a good time to tell you all what we've heard. It seems that the "product transition" Apple mentioned on the last earnings call could very well be within the iPod line. Specifically, if you want to buy an iPod shuffle or iPod classic from Apple, you should do it sooner rather than later. We've heard those two iPods are getting the axe this year.
It makes a lot of sense, but only partly due to the numbers CNet mentions. The classic is a holdover from 10 years of iPod existence, bearing many similarities to the original iPod. The shuffle is basically the same form fact