Apple: revenue up, Jobs' health 'private matter'
updated 05:15 pm EDT, Mon July 21, 2008
Jobs' health 'private'
After announcing its best quarter ever, questions about Steve Jobs' health still cast a shadow over the company's future. During the company's quarterly Investor Conference Call, Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer said Jobs' health is "a private matter," but that he intends to remain as CEO of Apple. Company officials said they would not comment further on the matter.
Questiions about the CEO's health surfaced again in June, when a gaunt-looking Jobs addressed Apple Developers. Over the past few days, some investors have become increasingly anxious, even speculating that problems with the iPhone 3G and MobileMe launches may be due to Jobs' health distraction. Jobs was diagnosed and treated for pancreatic cancer four years ago, and was pronounced in good health at the time. Oppenhiemer's refusal to specifically address questions about Jobs' health is likely to fuel more speculation. Analysts point out that four years ago Apple knew about Jobs' pancreatic cancer for nearly a year before making any public announcements.
Apple says it sold more Macs in the last quarter than in any other in its history. iPod and iPhone sales were strong, with price-cuts fueling the sale of iPod Shuffles. Apple executives said they were "excited" about the Apple's new product pipeline, but said next quarter's revenues will be impacted by a "product transition," but would not comment further. Oppenheimer predicts gross margins will drop to around 31.5 percent in the September quarter. down from 34.9 percent in the June quarter. He said three factors will affect revenue in the next quarter: back-to-school promotions, an upcoming product transition, and charges related to accounting methods used to book revenue from the iPhone.
WHAT??
07/21, 07:00pm (2 replies) reply
some investors have become increasingly anxious, even speculating that problems with the iPhone 3G and MobileMe launches may be due to Jobs' health distraction
OMG.. this is the most ridiculous thing I have ever read. He is ONE MAN. CEO or not, does not mean that he has all of the answers. Jobs probably knows very little about how the activation works (meaning, in detail of course) or what the technical issues were with MobileMe (again, in detail).
Apple is a what.. 40 billion dollar company. Do investors really think that only one man can solve the issues when something goes wrong? I guess anytime there are issues with an iPod line, they send all of the broken ones to Steve's house to fix! Stock investors are retarded....
Even without Steve, Apple will thrive. His peers are, i'm sure, very well versed in who Steve is and how to follow in his footsteps. Steve will not outlive everyone, but his vision will!
eldarkus
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Joined: Feb 2004
as a pr rep...
07/21, 07:02pm reply
...I can tell you (and I hate to say it) that "a private matter" is code for, "Yeah, this rumor is pretty much near-true, but we're not going to give you details." It's right up there with "treated for exhaustion"=drug addiction in Hollywood.
Sad. I hope Steve hangs on for a few more years.
dennisobell
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Joined: May 2002
re: WHAT??
07/21, 07:41pm reply
"Even without Steve, Apple will thrive. "
Just like it did the first time right?
Steve may or may not know details, but he IS the guiding force behind technologies. Without his vision, Apple WILL suffer.
Check out neXTStep on YouTube
http://youtube.com/watch?v=j02b8Fuz73A
MiMiC
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Joined: Jun 2007
awwwe
07/21, 08:24pm reply
How sad. I really respect Steve Jobs, and what he's done for the whole computer industry.
Apple will survive, but it will be one h*** of a loss if something happens.
scotte75ky
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Joined: Jan 2008
Steve would be dead
07/21, 09:51pm reply
If Jobs had the more common, and deadly, type of pancreatic cancer, he would be dead by now. Pancreatic cancer is pretty much a death sentance and the 5 year survival rate is dismal. Jobs will survive, for now at least.
jogdish
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Joined: Jan 2006
Steve's health..
07/21, 10:59pm reply
is indeed a public, not just a private, matter. That is like saying Steve is a private, not a public, person. Sorry. As CEO of Apple Inc, his health IS a matter of keen interest to stockholders and analysts.
hansmickle
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Joined: Feb 2003
Re: What???
07/22, 07:37am (2 replies) reply
What are you talking about? Of course these problems were all due to Jobs' health. Besides the obvious a**-kicking he would be doing to get it done in time, you can be sure most of the MobileMe team probably spent most of their days by the water cooler talking about his health.
And Jobs, in good health, would surely have been single-handedly writing the ATT activation software, thus making it easy to use and, like System 7, 'solid as a rock'! But he just didn't have the strength, so they had to hire the normal chimps that program those apps for ATT.
And I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the iPhone makers in Taiwan dropped their production run because they had to send half their workforce over to CA to tend to Jobs' historic mansion.
testudo
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Joined: Aug 2001