Steve Jobs Departure: Apple Stock will Return to Healthy Zone Soon

Apple (AAPL) stock fell over 7 percent in a single day of trading after it was announced that Steve Jobs was stepping down from the position of CEO. It was already expected that he would quit the position particularly with the confirmation of his health problem relating to pancreatic cancer. It was also expected that the stock of Apple was going to be badly hit once he officially made that decision. The one question remaining was how badly it was going to hit the shares of Apple. The trend shown last day could not be definitely encouraging.

Steve Jobs has been given the credit for giving Apple the necessary vision and strategic direction. Management gurus call him the ultimate proselytizer leader. His leadership approach involved an evangelical zeal to illustrate to the people the prospective potential of the adaptations of an existing product. He was a terrific promoter of the product adaptations of Apple.

Under his leadership Apple took control of a huge market by relying on adaptations rather than on inventions. With Steve at the helm Apple made the remarkable comeback from a situation that brought it close to bankruptcy two decades ago to the present where it is considered to be the most valuable brand in the world. Steve Jobs was forced to quit from the company in 1985. From that day till he returned to Apple in 1997 it was in deep waters. But as we know things changed when he came back. The growth of Apple has become sort of a legend in the world of business.

The major question to anyone involved in the stock market is, in the absence of Steve Jobs will Apple be able to continue with the existing success story. Apple has come up with hugely successful products such as the iMac, iPod, iPhone and iPad.

When asked about the leadership successor issue at Apple, Jobs had answered earlier: “Some people say, ‘Oh, God, if [Jobs] got run over by a bus, Apple would be in trouble.’ And, you know, I think it wouldn’t be a party, but there are really capable people at Apple. My job is to make the whole executive team good enough to be successors, so that’s what I try to do.” It is expected that he has been successful in doing that.

It is hoped that the successor is able to live up to the expectation and confirm what Steve Jobs mentioned in his resignation letter that the brightest days for Apple are ahead of it. If that is the case the downfall in the stock will be a short-term phenomenon and it will get back to the healthy zone soon.