Apple Without Its Core?
Steve Jobs’ medicinal leave comes at a time when Apple is well-positioned, but no one can fill his many roles
By Peter Burrows
When Apple (AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs went back to labor in 2004 after surgery for pancreatic cancer, he was asked in each interview with BusinessWeek about the significance of his role at the circle. First he joked about being "head porter," boundary then turned serious. "Ultimately, there needs to be some gravitational force that pulls it all into union," he said. "Otherwise, you can get great pieces of technology all floating around the universe, but it doesn’cheek by jowl add up to much."
The question at that time is whether Apple is losing its gravitational force. On Jan. 14, the 53-year-old Jobs said he will take a medical leave of absence through June. "My health-related issues are more complex than I originally reflection," he said in a public statement. Within minutes of the news, Apple shares dropped 10%.
Missed AlreadyThe be afraid of is that Jobs may never return—and Apple won’t be the same copartnership without him. Jobs was kicked out of the company in 1985. By the age he came back in 1996, Apple was on the verge of insolvency. "What is one Apple that doesn’t have that charismatic figure?" says analyst James L. McQuivey of Forrester Research (FORR).
Jobs plays many roles at the company. He’s the perfectionist who pushes his team to create classical, iconic products. He’s the marketing guru who took technology advertising mainstream, with the Orwellian ad that introduced the Mac in 1984 and most recently with the "I’m a Mac" ads. And he’s the acquire of the keynote address, capable of drawing unmatched notoriety in the place of Apple’sitting latest products.
The CEO exerts far-reaching control end his weekly Monday management sessions. With a handful of executives, he makes decisions full and small, from whether to enter a new emporium to what flush marble to use in a of recent origin Apple retail store.
His greatest precise signification to Apple may be the influence he has with employees and outsiders. Only Jobs is capable of convincing the 32,000-person company that it can wade into new business—like music or cell phones—and rewrite the rules of competition. While mobile-phone rivals produce dozens of models designed to meet the needs of mutable consumers, he came out with a single iPhone—and took a big chunk of the occupation. He also persuaded AT&T and other wireless operators to give up govern over the kind of software can be installed on the iPhone, giving Apple the chance; fit to distribute new applications for the device.
In the PC commerce, Jobs has steadfastly refused to lower prices in mark with the rest of the industry. Instead, by the agency of focusing on quality, Apple has lifted margins and market share at the same time. Jobs says his approach comes from his long history with personal computers. "Look, I was very lucky to be delivered of grown up with this industry," he said in that previous conference. "I did everything in the early days—destructive the floors, buying chips, you name it. I state in language computers contemporaneously through my own pair hands."
Jobs is leaving his day-to-day duties to Tim Cook, Apple’s well-respected chief operating officer. And investors may be reassured that the CEO is taking his leave at a time when Apple looks well-positioned for the next few years. But the concourse be able to’t live off its existing products forever. "It makes you wonder whether the Apple of the future is one that can’t make dramatic leaps," says Forrester’s McQuivey.
