Will Apple become another Nokia without Jobs?

Apple's CEO Steve Jobs has resigned. The news immediately affected the stocks of the world-known company. In his letter addressed to Apple's board and the "Apple community," Jobs said he "always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's CEO, I would be the first to let you know. Unfortunately, that day has come." 

Georgy Voronkov, a financial analyst with Investcafe, believes that the news is utterly negative both for the fans of the whole era of IT culture, which Jobs created, and for Apple's quotations. Jobs, with his bitten apple, has earned the reputation of the world's best top manager in IT business. He took Apple to the peak of capitalization twice. The first time it happened in 1997-2000, when Apple's market value increased 7.7 times. The second time is taking place right now: by 2011, the capitalization of the company skyrocketed 54 times since 2002.

Today, Apple is the most expensive IT company in the world. Its capitalization is worth $349 billion, which is a very impressive number in comparison with Microsoft's $209 billion and Google's $169 billion.

According to Voronkov, Jobs' departure from the company will seriously affect its market quotations. When he left the company in 1985, the business went to a standstill for 12 years.

"His resignation will most likely send Apple's quotes down for 10-15 percent during the upcoming three months. It's happening at the time when Apple needs all internal resources to expand its presence on the market of tablet computers and smartphones. Apple's iPad is the fastest growing article of income for the company. During the 3^rd financial quarter, the company sold 18% more of them than over the same period last year, namely 9.25 million units.

"The sales of iPhones show a similar dynamics. They shot 142% up to 20.3 million units sold in comparison with the previous year. The competition in the face of Asian makers is very strong. Android smartphones have already taken leading positions in the industry. They have toppled Nokia, the erstwhile leader, and put pressure on RIM, the maker of BlackBerry. The struggle in the field of tablet computers is just as intense. Companies file one patent suit after another not to let competitors conquer the market first. The Apple management must not make any mistakes against such a background. The fate of Nokia is a bright example of what may happen. The company lost two-thirds of its capitalization in a year because it failed to meet the market needs," the expert said.

Irina Loseva.