Reaction: Steve Jobs resigns from Apple
A round up of some of the reaction to media outlets to the announcement that Steve Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple.
With Jobs announcing his resignation as CEO of global technology company Apple, despite remaining as chairman, Apple has already seen its share price drop.
What other reaction has there been to the announcement?
Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York, told Bloomberg that no-one could fill Jobs’ shoes.
“I don’t think it’s a reflection of Tim Cook or a reflection of uncertainty about the company being able to continue to execute well,” commented Sacconaghi.
“Tim Cook has been acting CEO twice, both times that Steve Jobs has been on leave. In both periods, the company has executed flawlessly. Share prices in both instances have significantly outperformed including this year’s outperformance by about 20 percent since Steve Jobs went on leave.
“So I don’t think there’s a lack of confidence in the succession plan. People widely expected, almost universally expected, Tim Cook to become CEO when this would happen. It is recognition of how iconic Steve Jobs is.
“Even though he has a great successor, there’s an implicit acknowledgement that no one can fill Steve’s shoes.”
Colin Gillis from BGC Financial told the BBC: “Steve is [still] going to be able to provide the input he would do as a chief executive,"
"But Tim has been de facto chief executive for some time and the company has been hugely successful. The vision and the roadmap is intact."
Rory Cellan-Jones, technology correspondent for the BBC described it ‘a sad day for apple and the whole technology industry.
“As its most charismatic and successful leader of recent years brings down the curtain on an extraordinary career,” continued Cellan Jones.
“Steve Jobs addressed his brief letter of resignation not just to his company's board but to the Apple community - and millions worldwide will feel he was talking to them.
“Forceful bosses whose personalities shape everything about their businesses are going out of fashion these days, for good reason many would say.
“But Steve Jobs is a rare example of a chief executive who is synonymous with his company, a perfectionist who obsesses over every detail and has been the public face of just about every major product launch in the past decade.
“It's difficult to imagine Apple without him - but he's leaving having revived what was an ailing business when he returned in the late 1990s, and turned it into the world's wealthiest company and one which has done more than any other in recent years to shape consumer technology.”
Writing for TechCrunch, Saul Hansell described Jobs as having ‘created a snowball of innovation, hype, customer loyalty and scale.” He added: “Here was a product category that was entirely new. But instantly it was a hit—not just among gadget geeks—but with tens of millions of people who saw something that immediately appeared useful and alluring. They trusted that Apple could deliver something that would just work without the glitches and disappointments that dependably accompany the first generation of products from lesser companies.”
Speaking to the Guardian, Shannon Cross of Cross Research said: "It won't affect next the iPad or next iPhone. Apple's product line-up is well set. Steve, keep in mind, has been training people at Apple and there is a culture at Apple that is very strong."