Apple Inc’s Co-founder and Chairman Steve Jobs died Wednesday at the age of 56, Market Watch reported. He had been battling cancer and other health issues for years and had a rare form of pancreatic cancer.
The designer of desktop computers and iPhones, Apple announced his death late on Wednesday night without giving any reasons for the cause.
The co-founder of Apple Inc, one of the world’s great entrepreneurs who gave the world the iPod and the iPhone resigned as CEO of the world’s largest technology corporation in August this year, handling the reigns to current chief executive Tim Cook.
The Silicon Valley Icon invented and masterfully marketed ever-sleeker gadgets that transformed everyday technology, from the personal computer to the iPod and iPhone.
The announcement of his death by Apple sparked sadness and shock and sympathy from world leaders, competitors and other businessmen including Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
The co-founder of Apple Inc, one of the world’s great entrepreneurs, was surrounded by his wife and immediate family when he died in Palo Alto, California. He was deemed the heart and soul of a company that rivals Exxon Mobil as the most valuable in America.
“Steve’s brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives. The world is immeasurably better because of Steve,” the largest technology company Apple Inc said in a statement. “His greatest love was for his wife, Laurene, and his family. Our hearts go out to them and to all who were touched by his extraordinary gifts.”
Apple paid homage to their visionary leader by changing their website to a big black-and-white photograph of him with the caption “Steve Jobs: 1955-2011.
The flags outside the company’s headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop flew at half mast. “The world rarely sees someone who has had the profound impact Steve has had, the effects of which will be felt for generations to come,” Bill Gates said.
In New York, outside an Apple store, mourners laid candles, bouquets of flowers, an apple and an iPod Touch in a make shift memorial.
Tim Cook, Jobs’s handpicked successor, called Jobs a “visionary and creative genius” as well as a “dear friend and inspiring mentor.” “Steve leaves behind a company that only he could have built, and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple,” Cook wrote.
Apple’s iPhone 4S launch pulled stock down
Jobs died one day after the consumer electronics powerhouse unveiled its latest iPhone, the gadget that transformed mobile communications and catapulted Apple to the highest echelons of the tech world.
Apple stocks fell by more than 5 points in early trading in New York, but analyst said on Wednesday that they were not surprised by investor disappointment with the launch of the iPhone 4S.
According Hamza Salem, IDC senior research analyst mobile handsets MEA and Turkey, said the failure of the iPhone 5 to materialize after weeks of hype was a let-down not only for fans but also for the markets.
Salem told agency news, “The stock price has been moving around since Steve Jobs resigned, and will all the legal battles Apple has been fighting against HTC and Samsung, the new model had been a much-awaited high moment for Apple.” “With no iPhone 5 and with Steve Jobs gone, the speculation will be that Apple might lose its way in the near future.”
