Apple CEO Tim Cook said during his company’s recent earnings call that iPad sales haven’t really been affected by the Amazon Kindle Fire, which is no doubt contributing heavily to the success of Android tablets. It’s also likely the Barnes & Noble Nook Color and Nook Tablet are included in the Android figures. Instead, Cook admitted the iPad has had some cannibalization effect on sales of Macs, and he predicted that one day, the tablet market will be larger in volume than the PC market.

Compared to Android, Apple still has a dominant position in the tablet market, with a 57.6-percent share compared to Android’s 39.1 percent, according to Strategy Analytics’ most recent numbers. In terms of year-over-year growth, the tablet space has grown by 150 percent between the end of 2010 and 2011. In other words, even if shares were more evenly split, the iPad would still be seeing big gains in unit sales.

The PC market, on the other hand, contracted by around six percent in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to research firm Gartner. That’s despite 20 percent growth by Apple’s own Mac line of computers. Kevin Tofel recently pointed out here on GigaOM that half of computing device sales are now mobile. If the trend of growing tablet and smartphone sales continue, and PC sales continue to decline, we’ll soon be in a position where mobiles are considered a primary device by the majority of users.

Apple will continue to sell iPads. A new refresh expected in the coming months might even help it turn the tide of slipping market share, since while the low-cost Kindle Fire may be a success, other Android tablet makers still seem to be having a hard time putting out a product consumers can get genuinely excited about. Kevin wrote last week about how Android 4.0, while it improves the Android tablet experience, still has a lot of glaring pain points. Also, Android’s tablet-specific app library lags considerably behind Apple’s, and isn’t catching up anywhere near as fast as the market on the smartphone side.

The companies putting out Android tablets that fail to achieve the Kindle Fire’s level of success are the same ones being hurt by the slowing PC market, and they’re the ones that stand to lose the most. Amazon’s Kindle fire has reportedly sold as many as 6 million units through the end of 2011, according to estimates, which would make it the world’s best-selling Android tablet.

Apple continues to appeal to a steadily growing audience of tablet users, but Amazon is answering the call of those who were happier buying bargain-priced netbooks for their basic computing needs, rather than spending more on an iPad. That’s the market PC makers should have been trying to retain with their own tablet efforts, and also the one Amazon has positioned itself best to appeal to.

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Cook was making $900,000 a year when he was appointed CEO in August. But in November, Apple gave him a hefty raise that put his base salary (not including bonuses or other compensation) at $1.4 million. Cook wasn’t the only one who got a raise either. According to the proxy filing:

In November 2011, the Compensation Committee determined that it was appropriate to increase the base salary of Mr. Cook to $1,400,000 from $900,000 and to increase the base salaries of the other members of the executive team, including Messrs. [Eddy] Cue, [Peter] Oppenheimer, and [Scott] Forstall, to $800,000 from $700,000.

A salary of $1.4 million is far more than Steve Jobs’ $1 salary. But then again, Jobs was still fabulously wealthy, thanks to his ownership and subsequent sale of Pixar to Disney. He also had plenty of other compensation from the company as well as tons of stock, though he sold none of it after he returned to the company in 1997, according to Apple.

The raise puts Cook’s base salary at the high end of fellow tech CEOs. Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer made $682,500 in base salary in 2011, Oracle’s Larry Ellison makes a Jobs-like $1 a year (again this doesn’t include bonuses or other awards). Former IBM CEO Sam Palmisano’s salary last year was $1.8 million.

It was reported earlier that Apple gave Cook a grant of 1 million shares of stock in August when he assumed the role of CEO when Jobs stepped down.

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The iPhone 4S will then be available in 90 countries in total, making it Apple’s “fastest iPhone rollout ever,” according to Apple CEO Tim Cook. The new countries getting the iPhone on Jan. 13 include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bolivia, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Cameroon, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, China, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guam, Guinea Conakry, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos, and Uganda.

The iPhone 4S has already sold very well in Taiwan and Hong Kong, where it debuted in December and November, respectively. Apple’s exclusive carrier partner in China is China Unicom, which boasts 196 million mobile subscribers, according to a recent count from November.

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According to its CEO François Prudent, who spoke to French newspaper Le Figaro (via AppleInsider), eBizcuss saw a 30 percent decline in business during the third quarter of 2011 due to stock shortages of iPad 2 and MacBook Air computers. That wasn’t due only to their popularity, Prudent claims. Apple’s tendency to prefer its own retail outlets when shipping new stock contributed significantly to its inability to meet customer demand. Likewise, the iPhone 4S has been in short supply in the fourth quarter, Prudent says.

EBizcuss has spent around $6.5 million getting its point-of-sale system up to scratch with Apple’s very specific criteria. Also, Apple also has taken away eBizcuss’ business customers by offering them prices that the third-party reseller can’t possibly match, since they undercut what it pays Apple itself for the hardware.

Apple’s practices have been the subject of legal action before. MACadam, an Apple reseller that shuttered its business in 2005, joined together with other third-party Apple partners to file a class-action lawsuit alleging unfair business practices, among other alleged wrongdoings. According to both that suit and this new one, Apple has preferred its own retail operations for available inventory since they began opening around the world.

Almost every time Apple unveils a new product these days, especially in the mobile space, early demand leads to supply shortages. According to Apple executives, these shortages result from Apple’s not being able to make product fast enough to keep up with consumer appetite; but these accusations suggest that when new stock does come in, it goes to Apple’s stores and online customers first. That would indeed harm the business of outside resellers, since customers will go with the retailer most likely to be able to meet their needs in a pinch.

Back in February, Dave Greenbaum talked about how Apple’s approach to dealing with its third-party reseller and service partners is beginning to look like outright hostility. This latest suit suggests that the problem isn’t improving as Apple’s own retail reach expands and its website continues to be a hit with consumers. After all, if Apple can sell direct, it will: It recoups more money and builds a stronger direct relationship with customers than through third-party sales. But is it worth costing the Apple user community the benefits of the local independent Mac shop forever?

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That’s up from 88 percent the last time RichRelevance in April, and it easily beat out Android and other competing mobile platforms. Shoppers on Apple devices were also willing to spend more, with an average order value of $123 vs. Android’s $101, and $87 from those shopping from traditional desktop operating systems. RichRelevance used data from 3.4 billion online shopping sessions between April and December at U.S. retailers ranging from specialty stores to major e-commerce sites.

Mobile shopping is still a relative drop in the bucket compared to its desktop companion, with just 3.74 percent of total online retail dollars spent in the U.S., but that number is growing. Thanks in large part to the success of Apple devices, mobile web shopping has doubled in eight months, and RichRelevance CEO David Selinger says the trend will only accelerate. Key to being a part of that growth for retailers, Selinger suggests, is “ensuring a seamless experience across the interplay of device, context and consumer behavior.”

Mobile devices seem to be most used for shopping at times when users don’t necessarily have immediate access to other types of computing hardware. For example, RichRelevance found that during Thanksgiving, 24 percent of shoppers visiting retail websites were on mobile devices, the highest share between November and December. On weekends traffic spikes, too, up to 17 percent from an average of 14 percent during the period measured.

If there’s any key takeaway here for Apple’s competition, it’s that the browsing experience is key to mobile commerce. Apple’s iPhone still offers the most true-to-web rendering of non-mobile websites of any smartphone, in my opinion, which means that even if online retailers are slow to tailor their experience to small screens, shoppers can still have a relatively painless shopping experience. It might also just be the case that the demographics of Apple mobile device buyers inclines them toward mobile shopping anyway, since they tend to have a lot of disposable income and be more responsive to advertising.

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(Click to enlarge)

Update: This infographic has been updated to fix the errors in the original version.

Infographic courtesy of Column Five Media. This graphic originally appeared at

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• Value of 100 Apple shares: $1,369 in 1997 vs. $150,590 in 2011, for a difference of $149,221.
• Number of times Jobs listed as inventor on Apple patents: 313.
• Number of times Jobs listed as lead inventor on Apple patents: 33 (For perspective: Google founders Larry Page and Sergei Brin appear on around a dozen patents total).
• Apple market capitalization: $2.3 billion in 1997 vs. $342.9 billion in 2011.
• Mac computer shipments: Around 2.6 million in 1997 vs. 13.66 million in 2010. Add in iPads, and estimates for 2011 sales approach 54 million.
• Apple cash reserves: $1.2 billion in 1997 vs. $75.9 billion in 2011.
• Apple retail stores: The first opened in 2001, and by the end of that year, there were 27 vs. 339 in 2011.
• iPhone shipments: 3.7 million in 2007 vs. an estimated 95 million in 2011.
• iTunes Store songs sold: 100 million in 2004 vs. 10 billion in 2010.
• App Store downloads: 10 million in 2008 vs. 15 billion in 2010.

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Jobs has been technically on leave from day-to-day duties at Apple since January 17 of this year, his second major absence related to illness. The departing CEO says in his letter that he has unfortunately reached a point where he can’t continue to “meet [his] duties and expectations as Apple’s CEO,” and “strongly recommend[s]” that Tim Cook take over as CEO of Apple, something he says is part of the company’s succession plan, the details of which have been the subject of some debate.

In closing, Jobs says he believes “Apple’s brightest and most innovative days are ahead of it,” and he hopes to continue to contribute to the company “in a new role.”

In a separate press release, Apple confirms that Jobs will remain as chairman of the board, and Tim Cook will take over CEO duties.

It’s definitely a sad day for Apple fans, but at least Jobs is remaining on board in some capacity, and Tim Cook is an able replacement. We’ll have more for you as this story develops.

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In addition to the 71 percent of iPad users (drawn from TradePub’s 30,000-strong installed base) who were at least managers, 48 percent of were at the level of “Director” or above. While TradePub’s audience may skew toward higher-level employees because of the nature of its content (it offers trade magazine and technical support documentation downloads), this does back up previous reports that the iPad is generally seeing a top-down adoption pattern in general.

TradePub’s report also showed that users consume more content on the iPad than on the iPhone. TradePub.com app users in general request 45 percent more reports and assets from the iPad app than they do from the iPhone app. It makes sense, if you consider that the iPad’s 9.7-inch screen is more conducive to reading than the iPhone’s smaller 3.5-inch display. Longer-form content works best on the iPad, TradePub concludes, which is probably why two-thirds of U.K. iPad owners use it for reading newspapers and magazines, too.

Surprisingly, the top days for accessing content from the TradePub app were on weekends. TradePub attributes this to professionals shifting industry research and catching up with trade trends to the weekend to avoid work-related interruptions. The app’s presence on the iPad might also be a contributing factor, since the device can blur the lines between work and home use. Late evenings and Sundays were the most popular times for app access.

The iPad seems to be getting use as a tool that enables enterprise users to better stay on top of work after hours and during down time — worth considering if you’re a business thinking about deploying iPads as a way to extend productivity.

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Tim Cook

Cook is Apple’s chief operating officer. He joined the company in 1998, after a brief stint as Compaq’s VP of corporate materials. Before that, he was COO of Intelligent Electronic’s computer resale division, and spent more than a decade at IBM as the director of North American fulfillment. Cook was originally brought on as Apple’s senior VP for worldwide operations, and was promoted to COO in 2007.

At Apple, Cook’s chief accomplishment appears to have been in cleaning up inefficiencies in Apple’s supply chain, which went a long way toward helping the company increase profit margins to the high levels it enjoys today. Cook has stepped in to fill Jobs’ shoes on two previous occasions: first during 2004 when Jobs left for two months to undergo treatment for pancreatic cancer, and then in 2009 during Jobs’ first extended medical leave, when Jobs underwent liver transplant surgery.

Because of Cook’s past success filling in for Jobs, he’s at the top of the list in terms of candidates for the CEO role in the future. He may not have the showmanship of Jobs, but few — if any — corporate leaders do. And he has something no one else worthy of consideration can claim: nearly a decade of experience actually running the company. According to a 2008 profile of Cook by Fortune, the COO has been largely responsible for Apple’s day-to-day operations for years, both during and in between Jobs’ absences.

Phil Schiller

Apple Senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller is another likely candidate for promotion at Apple. Schiller’s resumé includes executive positions in marketing at Macromedia and FirePower Systems, Inc., and he’s been incredibly involved with the company Apple since Jobs’ return. Schiller is one of only two Apple executives currently on Twitter.

Schiller also stepped in to fill the void when Jobs left for his first extended medical absence, mostly as the public face of the company during media events. He was the primary presenter at the keynote for the last Macworld attended by Apple in 2009, and for the WWDC keynote in June of the same year. Not everyone thought that Schiller filled the role of spokesperson as well as Jobs does, but then again, who could?

While Schiller has done a great job with Apple’s marketing over the years, he may not have the technical chops to occupy the CEO role and maintain the focus of vision that Jobs brings to the table. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology, and doesn’t seem to have been heavily involved in the technological side of Apple’s innovations.

Jonathan Ive

Jony Ive, as he’s commonly known, is Apple’s senior VP of industrial design. He’s responsible for the iconic look of Apple’s most successful products, including the iMac, the iPod and the iPhone. Ive began work at Apple in 1992, and secured his current title upon Jobs’ return to the company in 1997. Ive’s work experience prior to joining Apple is limited, but he did work for a short time at London’s Tangerine design agency after graduating from Northumbria University and before moving to the U.S.

It’s hard to understate Ive’s effect on Apple’s product design. He’s received countless awards for his work at Apple, and he’s widely regarded as the person who makes Steve Jobs’ ideas a reality. Some of his work is even exhibited at MoMA. Ive is also the second-youngest on this list at only 43.

If you’ve watched Apple’s promotional videos featuring Ive, you know that aside from Jobs himself, there’s no one at Apple that speaks with such genuine passion and intensity about the products the company creates. Of the people on this list, Ive might be the closest to Jobs in terms of public appeal, though he seems less eager to occupy the spotlight. In fact, Ive might see the CEO role as a distraction from the business of making outrageous and innovative ideas a reality.

Scott Forstall

Apple’s Senior VP in charge of iOS software Scott Forstall was with Jobs at NeXT before the company was acquired by Apple. Forstall was instrumental in creating Mac OS X, and oversaw the introduction of OS X Leopard before being put in charge of Apple’s mobile operating system efforts. Forstall is the second Apple executive with a Twitter account, though he has yet to actually tweet.

Forstall has participated in numerous Apple events, including 2010′s Jan. 27 event introducing the iPad. Forstall also has the technical chops, with two degrees in programming-related fields from Stanford University. He’s also the youngest in this list at 41.

What Ive is for Apple hardware, Forstall appears to be for the software side. And since his role’s focus on iOS mirrors the sea change the company underwent after the success of the iPhone (and later, the iPad), Forstall is in a perfect position at the heart of Apple’s core business (if you don’t think it’s the core yet, check Apple’s last earnings figures). Only his relative inexperience stands out as a point against him, but that might look like a strength to Jobs and other key inside decision makers.

Others

Keen Apple-watchers will note that not all of the company’s executives are profiled above. The rest of that list includes SVP and CFO Peter Oppenheimer, SVP Software Engineering Bertrand Serlet, SVP and General Counsel Bruce Sewell, SVP Retail Ron Johnson, SVP Operations Jeff Williams, and SVP Mac Hardware Engineering Bob Mansfield. While it is possible that these people are also under consideration for the top job, I’d argue that they aren’t among the top candidates for consideration. In some cases, their area of expertise is too far from Apple’s current focus, and in others, the individuals in question just don’t have the personality or presence to occupy the role.

Apple could also go outside the company to fill the CEO role, but it won’t if Steve Jobs has anything to say about who his successor will be. The corporate culture at Apple is too important to the products it creates to allow for handing the keys over to an outsider. And of course, it’s possible that Jobs may resume the top job after this leave, but if not, Apple’s bench is deep. No one can replace Jobs’ role in the company, but there are plenty who could take on his job.

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That the question is even asked at all is a testament to Jobs. Since his return to Apple in 1996, the 55-year old co-founder of the company has led it with a sense of purpose and focus of direction rarely seen among multi-billion dollar, publicly held corporations. Under Jobs, the iPod became for MP3 players what Kleenex is for facial tissue; the iPhone started a consumer rush on what was once a market relegated mostly to business users; and the iPad beat all expectations and single-handedly brought tablet computing mainstream. It’s Jobs’ extreme degree of control that accounts for much of Apple’s success, but might it not also lead, ultimately, to failure?

The problem with extreme authority is that once it’s removed, chaos often ensues. Even if someone else steps up to fill the power vacuum, that person won’t be Steve Jobs, no matter what other qualifications he or she brings to the table. And without Steve Jobs, in the minds of loyal followers, the general public, stockholders, and maybe even Apple employees, Apple just isn’t Apple.

At least, it isn’t the Apple we now know. But does it necessarily follow that an Apple without Jobs will be a failure? That’s a much more extreme claim, and one that ignores a number of very important factors. The first is history. Remember that we’ve been here before; from January to June of 2009, Jobs took his first medical leave, which turned out to be for a liver transplant. During that time, Apple COO Tim Cook stepped in as interim CEO. After an initial dip following the announcement of Jobs’ leave (like the one we’re seeing today, as Mathew reports), Apple stock prices rose steadily during that time, peaking at around $145 at end of Cook’s tenure, even amid rampant speculation that Jobs’ absence may become permanent. Apple was so impressed with Cook’s performance that the company gave him a $22 million bonus.

Cook isn’t exactly the only luminary in Apple’s talent pool, either. There’s top product designer Jonathan Ive, whose signature look has made Apple products the go-to gadgets for the fashion conscious and image-obsessed. And there’s Senior VP of Worldwide Product Marketing Phil Schiller, who came to Apple with Steve upon his return, and who has played a significant role in past company presentations. Schiller is now also arguably Apple’s most prominent social media presence through his Twitter account.

None of these potential successors have the celebrity status that Steve Jobs enjoys, but there’s no reason they should as of yet, since that role’s been more than adequately filled by Jobs himself until now. And while a celebrity CEO has been a major boon for Apple in the past, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the company will flounder without one. To suggest so is to ignore the hard work and resourcefulness of the Apple employees that turn Jobs’ vision into a reality. In fact, according to some Apple employees who spoke to us, you often have to work around Jobs subtly on issues where he’s very clearly in the wrong. Having a more reticent corporate leadership could allow dissenting opinions to surface, leading to products that would otherwise come to market late or not at all (a 7-inch iPad, for instance).

While Jobs’ current leave comes as a surprise to us in the media, there’s little chance it was something Apple isn’t prepared for as a company. Steve Jobs may be largely responsible for Apple’s success, but he won’t also be responsible for its failure. That has, and always will be dependent on the quality of the products it creates, and on the resourcefulness and ingenuity of the thousands of employees that work every day to make those products a reality.

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This is the email from Steve Jobs, which was released by Apple in its entirety as a press release:

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

This isn’t the first time Jobs has had to step away from the company due to health concerns. On Jan. 14 2009, Jobs stepped down as CEO temporarily, also citing health issues. The news also came in the form of a personal email from Jobs to Apple employees. This second leave comes almost exactly two years after the first. At the beginning of that earlier leave, Jobs anticipated a summer return to the company. This time, his plans seem much less definite.

It was later revealed that Jobs left to have a liver transplant in April of 2009. Critics argued that by keeping the specifics of his health issues hidden, he was hiding material information from investors and damaging the company. Stock prices initially suffered following the news of Jobs’ first absence, and the same can probably be expected this time around. Stock values are already down in European trading.

While this is most definitely bad news for the Apple CEO, we wish him a speedy recovery.

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The magazine describes the ousting of Steve in the 1980′s, his return in the 90′s, and the decade-long story that follows, which includes harrowing health problems, a securities-law scandal, and a product line badly in need of innovation and originality.

Despite having taken over the company when it was worth only $5 billion, and seemingly on the verge of failure and bankruptcy, Steve Jobs ushered in devices like the iPod which helped change the company’s fortunes dramatically (they now control 73 percent of the U.S. MP3 player market), eventually leading to the $170 billion net company worth that exists today. In August of this year, Apple reported that it had $31.1 billion in cash on hand, an amount that would allow it to buy its pre-Jobs self six times over.

Of course, Steve Jobs was also behind the introduction of the iPhone, a device which has arguably changed the landscape of cellular communication and mobile computing more than any other (subscription required). Originally introduced in 2007, in the two years since, the iPhone has become the force to reckon with in the smartphone industry. It led to fundamental changes in the way cellular service providers do business, and wrested much of the control of media and bundled software away from them.

Still, it hasn’t all been roses. Not one, but two major health issues arose for Jobs during the past decade. First, in 2004, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He underwent surgery to treat the disease, and the outcome was apparently a good one, since no follow-up chemo or radiology treatment was required. Then, last year, Jobs took a six-month leave of absence during which he underwent a liver transplant. He returned to work in June 2009.

There was also the securities scandal, in which Jobs was apparently granted stock options at a backdated price, resulting in $20 million of undeclared taxable income. An internal Apple investigation later cleared Steve Jobs of any knowledge of the backdating, but the issue remains subject to active criminal and civil legal investigation.

But the highlights far outweigh the few dark spots on this Apple. Mac market share continues to grow, and the brand remains incredibly popular among students and young people, a promising sign for the future. Jobs is also the largest shareholder at Disney, thanks to his influence and guidance in Pixar’s celebrated history. And, just as no one has yet to replicate the iPod’s success in the MP3 player market, no true iPhone-killer has yet to surface, despite countless efforts by other phone manufacturers.

Perhaps what makes Steve Jobs such a successful CEO is that people know his name. Not just avid Fortune readers and business-types, but most people. So much so that The Simpsons can parody him without fear of the joke being lost on the masses. Make no mistake, Jobs himself is a willing and active part of Apple’s promotional arsenal, as evidenced by his legendary theatricality when introducing new products and software at various special events.

It’s hard to predict what the future holds for such a personality, but recent evidence suggests that Jobs will next try to do for TV what he’s already done for music and cell phones. That is, to quickly and without much warning become the dominant force in an industry.

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Former Apple Board of Directors member and current Google CEO Eric Schmidt wasn’t paid for his time at Cupertino. This despite Apple’s habitual practice of offering stock options and a $50,000 retainer to Board members, both of which Schmidt declined during his tenure.

Instead, like other board members, Schmidt settled for some awesome Apple gear in exchange for his contribution to the board. According to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and BusinessWeek, the Google CEO accepted $8,712 worth of goods, though no specific breakdown of what sort of hardware that number actually represents has been reported.

We do know that board members are entitled to one of each new Apple product released while they’re an active member, and that they receive additional hardware discounts over and above that. Thanks to this sweet deal, Al Gore took home $13,161 and Arthur Levinson $8,923. I’ll bet a hefty portion of those numbers actually accounts for Apple’s ridiculously over-priced customization options.

Apple board members are also allowed up to 30,000 of company stock, with an option to buy up to 10,000 more per year. Schmidt passed up the opportunity, however, choosing instead to buy 10,000 shares on the open market with his own money in 2006.

Schmidt also received a mystery “commemorative gift” valued at $7,580. Many other Apple execs received similar gifts, including COO Tim Cook, but details about what exactly was gifted remain unknown. A MacBook Pro with the Apple logo on the lid replaced with an etched likeness of the giftee’s face, perhaps? Whatever it was, I’m fairly sure I want one.

Turning down the lucrative extras that come along with being a high-ranked tech executive has become Schmidt’s M.O., so it’s not really surprising to find that he was working at Apple for comped hardware. At Google, he famously only receives a $1 per year salary, and in recent years has been turning down stock option perks from the search giant as well.

If nothing else, the FTC’s investigation into the close links between Apple and Google should pull back the curtain and provide more revelatory looks into the inner workings of some of Silicon Valley’s biggest players. Schmidt recently stepped down from the Apple board amid accusations that the two companies were too closely involved with one another, and involved in a relationship that could potentially be construed as a non-competitive arrangement. Google and Apple still share a common board member, however, as Arthur Levinson, former CEO of Genentech, is still a sitting member of both.

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Despite definite personality differences (Jobs is animated while Cook is generally cool and reserved), most accounts agree that Cook will not bring any major changes in management style to the company. According to a statement to Bloomberg.com by former Apple employee Mike Janes, who was in charge of the online Apple Store for five years, Cook has in fact already been running the company for many years, while Jobs has been the public leader.

Tim Cook’s Background

Cook joined Apple when things were not looking so bright for the computer company. He is credited with having helped turn the company around following his arrival in 1998, when he helped to correct manufacturing inefficiencies that were taking a big chunk out of Apple’s bottom line. Prior to Apple, Cook boasts an impressive resumé, with stints at Compaq and IBM.

Known for his boundless energy, Cook is a dedicated cyclist, and sits on Nike’s board of directors. Sitting on another company’s board is another trait he shares with Jobs, and the two are the only Apple executives to do so.

Cook is no stranger to filling Jobs’ shoes. He did so in 2004 when Jobs left for over a month to undergo treatment for pancreatic cancer. This time around, the situation is more grave, owing both to the proposed length of Steve’s leave, and to the perceived seriousness of his medical condition. We suggested yesterday that there may be more to this issue than meets the eye, and, judging by Wall Street’s reaction, many others tend to agree.

So What Does He Mean for Apple?

So what will Tim Cook mean for Apple this time around? All evidence suggests that he is a “stay the course” kind of guy, as befits an interim CEO. That’s all well and good, but when you’re Apple, you depend on a certain amount of dazzle, mystery, and intrigue to maintain your brand image and promote growth. Keeping the ship on an even keel is fine for a month or two, but over the course of six months, you risk becoming boring.

From now until June, Cook’s moves will be highly scrutinized. I don’t necessarily predict stunt moves and events, but I do expect some kind of hardware unveil, and possibly Snow Leopard’s introduction, between now and then, in an effort to recapture some momentum. The lackluster Macworld keynote, with its exhaustively detailed iLife ’09 review, might’ve had some major reveals taken out at the last minute to save some wow factor for Cook to bring out while Jobs is away.

Make no mistake, this is an audition for Cook. An audition for Apple shareholders, stakeholders, and likely, for Jobs himself. How well he performs will likely determine whether that “interim” ever gets dropped from his title, and possibly, the future of Apple as a company.

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This news comes on the heels of Jobs’ absence at the Macworld Keynote, where he was replaced by Phil Schiller, and a letter from Jobs personally addressing the rumors surrounding his health and claiming that the issue was a hormonal imbalance, which was easily treatable.

The leave of absence will last until the end of June of this year, during which time Tim Cook will be in full control of the company’s day-to-day management. Trading of Apple (AAPL) stocks was halted immediately upon the release of the news. The trade freeze will give Apple some time to mitigate the negative effect of the news on share prices, but they will undoubtedly drop.

The following letter, posted by MacObserver.com, was sent from Steve Jobs to Apple employees, and explains the reasons for his temporary departure:

Team,

I am sure all of you saw my letter last week sharing something very personal with the Apple community. Unfortunately, the curiosity over my personal health continues to be a distraction not only for me and my family, but everyone else at Apple as well. In addition, during the past week I have learned that my health-related issues are more complex than I originally thought.

In order to take myself out of the limelight and focus on my health, and to allow everyone at Apple to focus on delivering extraordinary products, I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations, and I know he and the rest of the executive management team will do a great job. As CEO, I plan to remain involved in major strategic decisions while I am out. Our board of directors fully supports this plan.

I look forward to seeing all of you this summer.

Steve

Jobs appears to remain optimistic, and won’t keep his hand out of things altogether, which is good news for the company. We here at TheAppleBlog wish him a speedy recovery.

Related research and analysis from GigaOM Pro:
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• Why iPad 2 Will Lead Consumers Into the Post-PC Era
• The Near-Term Evolution of Social Commerce
• What Google’s Honeycomb Means for Apple and Microsoft