Tech Central Blog: has the cancer returned?

Silicon Valley was last night speculating that if Steve Jobs failed to return to work within six months it would dramatically slow the pace of innovation that Apple has become renowned for during its 33 years in existence.

Mr Jobs has stepped down from the day-to-day running of the company until the end of June while he battles a “hormone imbalance” that has resulted in dramatic weight loss. His vow to remain involved in strategic decisions while away was not sufficient to prevent an immediate slump in the company’s share price. Yesterday the shares were down a further 2.3 per cent to $83.38 after a 10 per cent slump on Wednesday in after-hours trading.

Analysts were divided over the impact Mr Jobs’s absence would have. The chief executive has forged a unique role at the heart of the company, involved in everything from ideas for new products to the way they are marketed.

Some thought that should Mr Jobs have to step down permanently, Apple would inevitably suffer. “Steve Jobs is the Ronald McDonald of Apple – he is the face,” said Rob Enderle, of the Enderle technology advisory group in Silicon Valley. “They either need to redefine the company so his role is divided among different people or they need to find somebody that can clone Steve Jobs.”

Others were more bullish about Apple’s prospects. The company has cash assets of $25 billion (£17 billion) and a range of products in the pipeline, including updates to the iPhone.

“We believe that the corporate strategy that Jobs implemented, including a strong emphasis on product design, will remain intact,” Maynard Um, a UBS analyst, wrote in a research note. “The leadership team Jobs assembled is more than capable to continue to execute the strategy both near and long term.”

Van Baker, analyst at Gartner, the information technology research firm, said: “Apple is not going to collapse without him there.”

Tim Cook, Apple’s chief operating officer, has taken the reins, as he did for two months in 2004 when the chief executive had surgery for pancreatic cancer. Mr Cook, 48, is considered the front-runner, should a replacement for Mr Jobs become necessary. He joined Apple in 1998 and is credited with turning round its manufacturing and logistics. He had previously been a vice-president at Compaq and spent 12 years at IBM.

While he has a different management style from Mr Jobs, never raising his voice and lacking his boss’s stage presence, Mr Cook is known as a hard worker and an exacting leader. He has been quietly running the company for several years, according to Mike Janes, who worked with the executive for five years at Apple.

“Steve is the public face of Apple and nothing beats when he goes out and says, ‘Tada’,” Mr Janes told Bloomberg News. “But someone has to take all those amazing product designs and turn them into that big pile of cash you see in the company’s bank account. That’s Tim.”

The next hurdle for Mr Cook will be the release next Wednesday of earnings for Apple’s fiscal first quarter, which ended in December. There is concern on Wall Street that plunging consumer demand will have hit the company’s performance. This time last year the share price was $169.04 compared with today’s $83.30.

Mr Jobs announced he was taking medical leave of absence as his health problems were more complex than originally thought. Some fear that his cancer has returned but Mr Jobs and Apple have declined to clarify the situation.

Apple was co-founded by Mr Jobs and Steve Wozniak in 1976 at the start of the personal computer revolution. Mr Jobs, who dropped out of college at 17, left Apple in 1985 but returned in 1997 and became full-time chief executive once again in 2000. Under his decisive leadership the company has had a string of successes, including the updated line of Mac computers, the iPhone, the iPod and iTunes.

STEVE JOBS CV

Adopted and raised by Clara and Paul Jobs Dropped out of Reed College in Portland at 17 after one term Dress code: black turtleneck, Levi's jeans and trainers

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