Steve Jobs: Apple’s beloved visionary

Steve Jobs, who until Wednesday was Apple’s chief executive officer, will remain as chairman of the board.

The long-expected move of the legendary co-founder, a top ideas man, came after he began a dramatic fight with cancer.

Chief operating officer Tim Cook would take over as CEO.

Mr Jobs is seen as the heart and soul of Apple, with analysts and investors repeatedly expressing concern over how the Cupertino, California-based company will fare without the figure seen as its driving force.

“Steve’s extraordinary vision and leadership saved Apple and guided it to its position as the world’s most innovative and valuable technology company,” board member Art Levinson said in a statement.

Gartner analyst Van Baker saw no reason for investors to panic.

“My suspicion is that Apple will do just fine,” Mr Baker said. “There are so many talented people there and Steve’s attention to detail is baked into the culture.”

“Apple is an execution monster, and that includes products, supply chain and marketing,” Mr Baker said. “Their roadmap is in place; I’m sure they are already working on the next iPad.”

No reason was given for Mr Job’s resignation, but his health problems, including a lengthy medical leave for a liver transplant in 2009 and his gaunt appearances at public events, fuelled speculation he would have to give up the everyday running of the company he co-founded in 1976.

Mr Cook ran Apple when Jobs went on medical leave and has essentially been running day-to-day operations since early this year with the company racking up record revenue and profit. “Tim’s 13 years of service to Apple have been marked by outstanding performance, and he has demonstrated remarkable talent and sound judgment in everything he does,” Mr Levinson continued.

Mr Cook was previously responsible for Apple’s worldwide sales and operations, including management of the supply chain, sales activities, and service and support in all markets and countries.

Mr Jobs is a living legend in Silicon Valley. He is the beloved visionary behind the Macintosh computer, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad as well as the iTunes online shop.

Key dates in history

1976: Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak unveil the first Apple computer in Palo Alto, California. It consists of little more than a circuit board and costs just under $700.

1977: The Apple II with a one-megahertz processor becomes the first mass produced computer and an instant hit.

1980: Apple becomes a publicly traded company.

1983: Lisa, the first personal computer featuring a mouse for navigating and desktop icons and folders, is introduced. Its failure is blamed on a daunting price of nearly $10,000.

1984: The Macintosh PC makes its debut. It is affordable and features innovations such as a disk drive, built-in monitor, and a mouse.

1985: Mr Jobs resigns after being stripped of control of Apple in an internal power struggle.

1986: John Sculley becomes Apple president. Mr Jobs starts computer company NeXT and buys Lucasfilm’s computer graphics division, renaming it Pixar.

1996: Apple buys NeXT and makes Mr Jobs an adviser.

1997: Mr Jobs returns as head of Apple. Arch-rival Microsoft invests $150 million in the company.

1998: Mr Jobs revamps Apple’s product line, churning out colourful $1,300 iMac PCs with monitors and drives in the same casing.

1999: The iBook, marketed as a mobile iMac, is introduced.

2001: Apple launches the iPod pocket digital music player for $399 and opens its first retail store in Palo Alto.

2003: Apple opens online music store iTunes.

2004: Mr Jobs undergoes an operation for pancreatic cancer.

2007: Apple kicks off the era of the touchscreen smartphone with the new iPhone.

2009: Mr Jobs goes on medical leave in January, returning to work in June after undergoing a liver transplant.

2010: Mr Jobs unveils the iPad tablet computer, a huge hit. Apple passes Microsoft in May as the largest US technology company in terms of market value.

January 17, 2011: Mr Jobs takes another medical leave of absence.

January 18: Apple reports a record quarterly net profit of $6 billion on revenue of $26.74 billion

March 2: Mr Jobs makes surprise appearance to unveil of the latest iPad

June 6: Mr Jobs again surprises by launching Apple’s free online storage hub iCloud

July 19: Apple second quarter profit hits $7.31 billion on revenue of $28.57 billion.

August 9: Apple briefly passes ExxonMobil as the world’s largest company by market capitalisation.

August 24: Mr Jobs announces his resignation as CEO and is replaced by chief operating officer Tim Cook, but stay on as chairman of the Apple board.