Apple stops making wireless routers and shuts division

Closure of 17-year-old AirPort line comes after decline in sales of hardware such as routers and monitors, as Apple hones its core consumer product business

Apple has closed the division responsible for designing its wireless routers, reassigning the employees within the company and putting an end to its 17-year-old AirPort product line, sources close to the company have confirmed.

The iPhone-maker currently sells three router devices developed by the division: the 99 AirPort Express, a small wireless access point, the 199 AirPort Extreme, a larger wireless router, and the Time Capsule, a wireless router with an in-built hard drive for backups, which is available in two sizes for 299 and 399. But none of the devices have been updated since 2013, after years of near-annual alterations to support the latest wireless networking technologies.