Steve Jobs takes leave till June - What will it mean for Apple?

Steve Jobs has decided to take time off till June. In a note to Apple employees (see below) he writes: "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...I have decided to take a medical leave of absence until the end of June." Click through for the full letter - and what it all means.

At 53, Jobs could ordinarily enjoy a decade or more steering Apple through the next phase of its development but, given his health, that seems increasingly unlikely. So does Apple need Jobs? Wall Street certainly thinks so. Apple shares fell five percent today - nicely shaving off all the gains its shares made after the launch of the iPhone.

But the city trader is a fickle creature and never one to enjoy uncertainty. The view of most analysts is not to panic: "The leadership team Jobs assembled is more than capable to continue to execute the strategy both near and long term," wrote UBS analyst Maynard Um.

And that's not just from a hard nosed business point of view. Um added: "The corporate strategy that Jobs implemented, including a strong emphasis on product design, will remain intact." In other words, the culture that Jobs has instilled at Apple will remain long after he has stepped down - especially as, for now, he will remain involved in major strategic decisions even in his absence.

But not every analysts is so rosy. Oppenheimer analyst, Yair Reiner, has written: "An extended period of muddled executive leadership would almost surely impact product releases in 2010 and beyond," and that wouldn't be good for us eager consumers.

While Jobs takes time out, Tim Cook, Apple's Chief Operating Officer will be at the helm of day to day operations. Cook also ran the business when Jobs took time out to fight cancer in 2004 - a year when Apple launched iTunes in the UK, opened it's first Apple store in Europe on London's Regent Street, unveiled the fourth generation iPod, introduced the G5 Power Mac and iMac and was busy developing OS X Tiger - not a bad 12 months all in all.

Jobs came back from that period of ill health to move the Mac line-up over to Intel chips and introduce the iPhone. Here's hoping he storms back again for more ground breaking products in the future. But, if he doesn't (and it really is just an if at the moment), we're sure Apple will be in safe hands, whatever Wall Street believes.

Apple statement:

Apple CEO Steve Jobs today sent the following email to all Apple employees:

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