In mid-January, Steve Jobs sent a letter to Apple employees informing them that he would be taking a leave of absence from his role as CEO so that he could devote more time and energy towards recovering from a health condition that had caused him to lose a significant amount of weight.
Since then, Apple COO Tim Cook has been handling the day to day operations, but Steve Jobs continued to remain heavily involved in Apple’s major strategic decisions. In a report published by the Wall Street Journal this weekend, sources close to Apple noted that Jobs has continued to work on and evaluate Apple’s product pipeline, in addition to playing an influential role in the strategic direction of the company itself. Specifically, the report noted that Jobs was “particularly involved in the user interface of the new iPhone operating system that Apple unveiled last month.” This information should help ease the minds of investors who, rightly or wrongly, place an extreme emphasis on the health of Steve Jobs when evaluating the financial prospects of Apple.
When Jobs first announced his temporary departure from Apple in January, he wrote that he would be on a “medical leave of absence until the end of June.” Interestingly, Apple’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is scheduled to take place from June 8 to June 12. This has fueled speculation that Jobs might indeed make a surprise appearance at this years WWDC, where Apple is rumored to be introducing a next-gen iPhone model.
The Wall Street Journal also noted that Apple was busy working on a portable device that’s smaller than a 13 inch MacBook, but larger than an iPhone. The source of this juicy rumor is of course unknown, but adds even more of a reason to speculate that Apple is in fact working on either a netbook or tablet like device. If you recall, Apple recently placed a large order for 10 inch touchscreens from Wintek, the same Taiwanese company that currently supplies the touchscreens for the iPhone.
