The man who has overseen the development of a portfolio of unrivalled technology classics –most notably the iPhone, iPod, iTunes and the Mac Book – is to take an enforced leave of absence to fight a hormone imbalance that has caused him to shed an unhealthy amount of weight in recent months. Tim Cook, presently chief operating officer, will assume Job’s role.
Jobs and Pancreatic Cancer
Apple finds itself in a position not dissimilar to that of 2004 when Jobs, 53, absented himself to fight a bout of pancreatic cancer. It is believed these most recent health problems are a residual complication resulting from surgery he underwent to fight his illness. No doubt aware of the unhappy correlation between Apple’s stock market price and speculation about the state of his health, Jobs stayed upbeat in announcing to the media that his illness necessitates another furlough.
At a press conference, he announced his intention “to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health” and assured investors and the media that “this is a nutritional problem [that] is relatively straight simple and straight forward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But just like I didn’t lose much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this spring to regain it.”
Apple Stock Falls
However, with company’s stock market price hitting a low not known since December 2006, not all those with a finger in the Apple pie were reassured by the CEO’s announcement. Job’s plummeting weight and the mystery that has surrounded his illness has led to a crisis of confidence on the stock market, where some suspect a certain amount of subterfuge has kept investors in the dark on the real state of play at the company.
Roger Kay, an industry expert at Endpoint Technologies Associates, asserted that the fact that so much of Apple’s success is predicated on Job’s personality and charisma will mean that the company is going to have a hard task finding his replacement among the company’s capable but bland top brass: “Apple is more dependant on its CEO than most other companies. Steve is a critical judge of the company’s business, and that maestro role he performs is what makes Apples great. But there is no maestro-in-training to take over Steve’s role.”
Steve Jobs is Apple
However, Tim Ghriskey at Solaris Asset Management, an Apple stock holder, was confident that Apple had more strength in depth than some industry naysayers were claiming. Ghirskey asserted that although for many “Steve jobs is Apple” the company is blessed with a pool of talent that is reassuringly deep. He said, “it is a very deep team. They have an amazing product lineup. They have an amazing product pipeline. It’s a brand people love and it’s not going away.”
Apple Strong to the Core
With Job's cadre of design wonks now having to assume more responsibility, the truth of such claims will undoubtedly be put to the test in the coming months. However, Apple customers and investors alike should be assured that at least two of the men new CEO Tim Cook has to call on have impeccable credentials.
Phil Schiller, head of marketing, and British design guru Jonathan Ive, who is responsible for the unprecedently popular iPod player, are thought to be just the men for the job.
Both Roger Kay and Tim Ghriskey were speaking to The Times newspaper (January 15th, 2008)
