Steve Jobs Out Again: Will Apple Sustain Astonishing Growth

Once again, Steve Jobs – CEO of Apple Inc, has shifted the gears and decided to go on leave from the company for medical reasons unexpectedly. In early hours of today, Steve Jobs has sent an email to his staff as ‘todays’ morning surprise. As per the email Steve stated:

At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.

I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.

Steve

Steve opted the similar move in early 2009 when he left all his employees and market only to guess. Later it was revealed that a major surgery of lever transplantation forced Steve to stay out of company operations. During those difficult days, it was again Cook who took over day to day operations of the company.

During that time (and the months leading up to it), the health of Jobs and Apple’s succession plan for its iconic founder became a major topic of discussion. With Jobs once again taking a leave, we expect the issue to quickly re-emerge, especially with Apple investors.

We are short detail information behind the leave of Steve Jobs this time. However, when Jobs left the company in 2009, shares of Apple tumbled to below $80 per share. Today, on the heels of record earnings and the introduction of products like iPad and iPhone 4, Apple trades at more than $300 per share, making it the second most valuable company in the world.

No wonder, if we see similar or sudden decline in Apple share on Tuesday when market will reopen for the week. In the light of enormous success of iPhone 4, iPad and upcoming rumors of iPad 2, share holders don’t seem to be anxious at least for some time now.