Apple CEO Steve Jobs Resigned, Is He Dying?

Steve Jobs resigned as CEO of Apple on Wednesday, 25 Aug 2011, a company he co-founded in his garage 35 years ago. The company wasted no time in naming its COO (chief operating officer), Tim Cook, as the new CEO but that was not enough to calm the market in after-hours trading when the stock plunged about 5% or $19 bucks to $357 a share. Obviously the man in the black shirt and jeans who introduced iPod, iPhone and iPad was a legendary and is irreplaceable. Steve Jobs was elected board chairman and Cook is becoming a member of its board.

In a letter addressed to Apples board and the Apple community, Jobs said he always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apples CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come. Steve Jobs, 56, has battled a rare form of cancer since 2003, and had been on medical leave at Apple since January.

Apple first disclosed Jobs health problems on Aug. 1, 2004, when it said he had undergone successful surgery to treat a rare form of pancreatic cancer, called islet cell neuroendocrine tumor. Later, Jobs underwent a liver transplant at a Tennessee hospital. William Chapman, a specialist at Washington University who has no direct knowledge of Jobss case, said the average five-year survival rate for people with Jobs condition who receive a liver transplant is about 50%.

Steve Jobs (left) with John Scully

1985 - Steve Jobs was fired in a boardroom coup. He setup his new company, NeXt Inc. in 1993

2000 - Steve Jobs introduced G4 Powerbook

2002 - Steve Jobs unveiled flat panel iMac computer

2002 - Steve Jobs presented Apple Store

So, with Steve Jobs resignation, does that means his health problem has actually turn for the worst and its a matter of time before he dies? Otherwise why would he give up on the CEO post from the company he loves so much? L! ets get real Apple is Steve Jobs, Steve Jobs is Apple, Steve Jobs is innovation and Steve Jobs is visionary. Its laughable to read from some analysts that you should not sell your Apple stock because Steve Jobs is leaving the CEO post. Obviously these analysts from Barclays Capital, J.P. Morgan, UBS and Deutsche Bank are not moron but rather caught off-guard with the resignation.

The only time (as far as I can remember) when Apple stock plunged about 5% was when Steve Jobs health problem was made known, or when the Dow Jones tumbled more than 500 points, or when the company missed its earnings expectation (did it ever?). Sure, Timothy Cook is an operational genius but that skill is learnable and you can hire consultants to do that (that was why Tim Cook was hired, no?) but you cant hire someone equipped with innovations skillsets. Wasnt Steve Jobs who not only save the company from near bankruptcy but drive it to become the worlds most valuable company?

2004 - Steve Jobs showed a 30-inch flat panel display

2004 - Steve Jobs released new Apple iPod, the same year he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer

2006 - Steve Jobs proudly announced the one billionth song sold over iTunes

2006 - Steve Jobs said consumers can now doanload videos from iTunes

2007 - The defining moment as Steve Jobs presented Apple iPhone

Of course Apple will not collapse overnight and thanks to Steve Jobss iProduct pipeline, it will survive for another few years but what next? After iPod, iPhone and iPad, can Tim Cook continue the products trend in the ever-changing market demands? Were talking about replacing a guy who shepherded Apple from a two-man startup to Silicon Valley darling and actually sent giant IBM Corp. and others scrambling to get their own PCs to market. Were talking about replacing a guy whose iPad introduction is tearing down PC industry so much so that Hewlett-Packards decision to get out of the PC business was partly due to iPads success. Heck, even Microsoft Bill Gates copied his Windows (from that boring DOS) from Apples operating system. In short, without Steve Jobs, Apple is nothing.

Sure, people have prepared for a world without Steve Jobs ever since his decision to go on medical leave in January. But people being human being, they still hope Steve Jobss health would recover and continue driving the company. Now that Steve is leaving for good, will this same bunch of people stay loyal to ! Apple, w ithout a visionary? The real issue is the long-term impact toApple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL, stock) both in the innovation products and in retaining the senior talents. Of course Tim Cook is a better and calmer, not to mention humble manager than Steve Jobs but still, that doesnt make Tim Cook an innovative and visionary person.

2008 - Steve Jobs unveiled MacBook Air, the super thin and light notebook

2010 - Steve Jobs introduced iPad, the product that would tear PC World

2010 - Steve Jobs proudly introduced iPhone 4 on June 7

On the bright side, Steve Jobs is still alive and kicking, monitoring from the board hence the stocks plunge would be temporarily, hopefully. Steve Jobs will remain on the board of Walt Disney Co. Jobs, Disneys largest shareholder with a 7.4% stake (138 million Disney shares), joined the board after the media company acquired his Pixar Animation studio for $7 billion in May 2006. The real Apple stock collapse would happen the mome! nt he di es. Meanwhile, Apples competitors are celebrating Steve Jobs resignation.

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