I think there is some skew to these rumors.
While it's been 3 years since we've seen a new Time Capsule/Airport Extreme, wireless technology hasn't really created a need for new hardware just yet. Think about it - these are 3 years old yet still taking the gold medal from an accolades perspective.
In addition, has Apple confirmed all development has ceased? They rarely comment on anything, but this doesn't deny nor confirm facts.
I think we'll see Time Capsule's and Time Machine go away in favor of iCloud backups. And then I think the Airport Extreme technology of a wireless router will be embedded into an Apple "home device hub". This device will act as the Apple TV5, acting as the Apple TV and Wireless Router.
Later on we'll see other "home" devices that rely on this new "home device hub", similar to Amazon Echo Dots.
This is just my speculation, based on Apple moving away from HW storage and more to the cloud, and being rumored to build a "killer home device."