Steve Jobs, will be taking a medical leave of absence for an unspecified amount of time. According to the New York Times, Steve Jobs “has looked increasingly frail” in recent months. That explains why Apple’s CEO was not at Verizon’s iPhone announcement event last week as well, and why there were rumors that Apple was looking for a new CEO.
And here is Jobs’ letter from this morning:
Team,
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
What does this mean for Apple? Well Steve gave no time line to get back. This means he could miss the launch of iPad 2 and iPhone 5. This could hurt Apple in the short-term vs. RIM’s PLaybook and Motorola Xoom. That is of little concern right now though since this is a mans like we are talking about. We sincerely hope Steve Jobs gets better soon.