Official reason
Replaced by Messages in OS X Mountain Lion.
Apple · Messaging
iChat
RIP
2002–2012 · 10 years in market
Bonjour and AIM bubbles on the Mac. Became Messages when iMessage needed a desktop home.
Launched
Aug 24, 2002
Discontinued
Feb 16, 2012
Cause of death
Replaced by successor
What actually happened
The center of gravity moved from AIM to iMessage. The bubbles stayed; the protocol did not.
Lesson
Chat clients are protocols in a trench coat. When the network changes, the coat gets a new label.
Similar products that survived
Apple
Messages
iMessage on the Mac.
Related autopsies
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Messaging/Replaced by successor+34