It's the end of an era. The Apple iPod Classic has been retired and was quietly removed from Apple's online store.

Without buzz or fanfare, the Apple iPod Classic has been discontinued after almost 13 years since it was launched.

The gadget that started making the company the leader in the mobile industry has reportedly made a lackluster performance in terms of sales in the final quarter of 2013, which may have contributed to its discontinuation.

But reports note that hints of the Apple iPod Classic's retirement had previously been given out since it had not been updated since 2009 and the company did not put a premium in marketing or talking about it.

The Classic's first generation was released in 2001, with a promise of "1,000 songs in your pocket."

Since its conception up to its last version which boasted of a 160GB internal storage, the Apple iPod Classic has been a favorite among audiophiles.

While Apple aficionados and a portion of the tech world are going gaga over the new iPhones and the SmartWatch, some shared their dismay with the retail giant's decision to discontinue the Classic.

"Apple introduced a phone with the same crappy battery, a wristwatch no one wants and killed the Classic. Why do you like them again?" said Patrick Ness, author of "The Crane Wife" on his Twitter account.

London tech consultant Phillip Downer shared his thoughts about the device's retirement, saying: "Farewell #iPodClassic. Replacing a device that does one thing supremely well with multiple gadgets doing multiple things quite well."

It may have come as a surprise for many but an article on The Independent suggested that Apple CEO Tim Cook gave a quiet nod at the Classic during the recent unveiling. "It turns out, with every revolutionary product that Apple has created, a breakthrough in user-interface was required. With the Mac, we introduced the mouse. The click-wheel on the iPod. And with iPhone, multi-touch gave us the ability to interact with a beautiful canvas of photos for or video or music."

The company has yet to come out with a statement about Apple iPod Classic's retirement.