iPod Touch sales on par with iPhone

Sales of  iPod Touch, once discounted as a pricey niche product, have more than doubled over the past 12 months to rates nearly in line with the iPhone, fuelled by an explosion of attractive gaming titles on the App Store that are boosting overall multi-touch device shipments into Nintendo DS territory.

Apple for the second time in as many months, Wednesday offered data sufficient for breaking out sales of its touch-screen iPod, something it has historically avoided in an effort to limit competitors' views of its success.

Specifically, Apple said last month that it ended 2008 with 30 million multi-touch users, 17 million of which were iPhone owners, and therefore 13 million of which were iPod Touch users. During the first quarter of 2009, that multi-touch audience swelled to 37 million units, according to Apple interim chief Tim Cook, driving surprising growth of a novelty product during a tough macro environment and further distancing Apple from any potential competitors.