Apple's Steve Jobs still on leave but not really gone

In one of the most curious vanishing acts in American corporate history, AAPL) CEO Steve Jobs remains on what is now the longest of his three medical leaves, popping up in public on the rare occasion, reportedly keeping an opaque remote control over major decisions, but also prompting questions as Apple keeps its trademark veil of secrecy drawn tight over its iconic leader's status.

It's now been more than six months since Jobs, often considered not only the face but the heart and soul of Apple, has been gone. Yet he's not really gone at all, though by one account he's less involved in micromanaging every aspect of the business.

With two major public outings to introduce the iPad2 and iCloud, and cameo appearances at both a private Woodside dinner with President Obama and fellow tech titans and a Cupertino city council meeting last month to unveil plans for Apple's new headquarters, Jobs slips tantalizingly in and out of public view.

And the markets don't seem to care either way. Under the direction of chief operating officer Tim Cook, Apple stock has soared to record highs as its iPhone, iPad and other products enjoy spectacular success around the world.

"Apple's dealing with this situation in their own unique manner,'' says Joel Achramowicz, an analyst with Blaylock Robert Van LLC. Cook "is the operating executive, but Steve Jobs is still involved. It's an unconventional approach. With other companies, you might expect the board to require the CEO to take a true and complete leave of absence. Not here. But then, Apple's just being Apple.''

When Jobs stepped away last January from day-to-day management, this third leave in the past decade came cloaked with far more intrigue than the previous breaks -- a two-and-a-half month leave in 2004 to undergo surgery for a rare form of pancreatic cancer, and a six-month leave in January 2009 for what turned out to be a liver transplant later that spring. Apple stock shares rose and fell accordingly, as if they were tied to the CEO's prognosis.

This time, though, the leave was open-ended, begging questions about whether the man worshipped by legions of fanboys might not be coming back at all and what that might mean to Apple's future. Job's six-sentence letter to employees didn't help clarify matters. Saying only that he would continue as CEO and "be involved in major strategic decisions for the company," Jobs added, "I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can."

Asked about Jobs on Thursday, Apple spokesman Steve Dowling said simply that "Steve is on medical leave and as we have previously said he continues to be involved in major strategic decisions.''

Six months after Jobs's 2009 departure, a Memphis hospital confirmed he'd undergone a liver transplant. Now, with Jobs once again a half-year into a medical leave, speculation swirls. Even in his absence, the CEO seems to be around every corner -- an unconfirmed sighting of Jobs at a Palo Alto sushi spot last spring; tabloid pictures outside the Stanford Cancer Center; an email to the Wall Street Journal from Jobs calling its report of CEO succession planning by Apple board members "hogwash.''

But perhaps because of Apple's recent and jaw-dropping performance under the management team Jobs had put into place, many observers say the CEO's absence, at least for now, is not having any noticeable impact at all on the tech powerhouse he helped build.

"I don't think you can draw too much from the length of the absence,'' said analyst Tim Bajarin with Creative Strategies. "We saw him at the Worldwide Developers conference in June and to me he looked the same as he did in March when he introduced the iPad 2. I think the process he's going through is recuperative, which means he probably needs to be more at home and less physically active. But I don't believe that's diminished his role in any way.''

Bajarin talks regularly with upper management at Apple and the impression he gets from those conversations is that while Jobs does not physically punch in every day at 1 Infinite Loop, he's virtually there much of the time.

"They tell me he calls in regularly, he talks to Tim, he talks to the top guys, he talks about the Apple Stores,'' said Bajarin. "But while he used to micromanage everything in ways that most CEOs would not, right down to issues with the company cafeteria, the big change with his latest leave is that there's less micromanagment and more management of his executive team and the big-picture issues.''

As a powerful iPhone to PC Transfer software, iPhone iBooks to PC Transfer can easily export iPhone iBooks (ePub, PDF, Audiobook), Music, Video, Podcast, TV Shows from iPhone to PC for backup and sharing. And it can also directly copy Music, movies, Podcast, TV Shows, etc. to iPhone without iTunes for playback anytime anywhere. 

For Mac users, here is iPhone iBooks to Mac Transfer, backup iPhone iBooks (ePub, PDF, Audiobook), music, videos, movies, podcasts and TV shows to Mac and copy files from iPhone to iTunes. (iBooks purchased from iTunes Store and Photos/videos recorded by device can also be read and exported).