Apple shares fall as Steve Jobs suffers fresh health scare

In an e-mail to employees, the 55-year-old Mr Jobs said he was taking the break to focus on his health, but will continue as CEO and be involved in major decisions.

Apple’s chief operating officer, Tim Cook, will be responsible for all day-to-day running of the company.

In 2009, Jobs underwent a liver transplant that took him out of action for five and a half months, and in 2004 he had treatment for pancreatic cancer.

On both occasions, share prices in Apple plummeted, such is investors’ belief that Jobs is almost single-handedly responsible for its flagship proucts, such as best seller the iPhone, Mac computer, iPod and iPad.

Today, shares in the company fell by 7.5 per cent in Germany, but according to Gary Davies, professor of Corporate Reputation at Manchester Business School, long-term investor confidence will not be adversely affected by Jobs’ announcement.

“Apple is on such a good roll at the moment, that I suspect the dip will not be severe and short in duration.” Gary Davies, Manchester Business School

“Yes, Apple will see a dip on the back of this news, but it is a common misconception that the last time Jobs was ill and share prices fell, it was solely down to his health. It was actually a combination of that and also, crucially, worries about product lines.

“Apple is on such a good roll at the moment, that I suspect the dip will not be severe and short in duration.”

However, Prof Davies added that the 7.5 per cent drop registered in Frankfurt was reflective of how irrational the financial market is.

“We have recently completed a study which shows how important the role of emotion is in the investor market. Our conclusion was that emotion in stocks and shares is equal to the strength of stocks and shares.

“Yahoo is a very good example of this. It’s share prices went sky-high and then crashing down in an incredibly quick amount of time.”

He added: “Because of the role of emotion, investors in Apple wil check and re-evaluate, but if the company keep producing the kind of products they have been, there will be no long-term impact.”

The announcement was made on a public holiday in the US when there is no trading in company stocks and shares.

In an email to employees, Mr Jobs said he loves Apple and hopes to be back as soon as he can, although no time frame was offered.

Apple is expected to reveal a second generation of the iPad in the next few weeks with new versions of the iPhone also expected in the summer.