Apple about to lose it's head?

A press release sent out by Apple in the past 24 hours has announced that Steve Jobs is to resign as Apples Chief Operating Officer with Tim Cook filling in the position. Whilst Jobs will remain on the board (as the Chairman) speculation is rife that Jobs' health has taken a turn for the worse.

In 2004 Jobs had surgery to treat a rare form of cancer and since then he has battled through a number of health issues including hormonal imbalance and has had to have liver surgery. Every time Jobs has taken time off the company's future has been cloudy with doubt rising and as a result share prices dropping. Earlier this year Apple's share holders tried to get Apple to reveal their plans for when Jobs does leave the company (though the movement failed) and now, it seems, possible that the future of Apple will come sooner than some had planned.

Whilst Apple has won a major court case in the Netherlands against Samsung (which will see a number of Samsung devices pulled from stores in 7 weeks time through much of Europe), the cases significance pales in comparison to the possible implications of Jobs on his way out. Whether you love Apple or hate them it's hard to deny that they are a dominant force with the likes of the iPhone, iPod and iMac and this has been down to Jobs. Whatever your personal feelings about Mr Jobs maybe, it's impossible to deny that he's visionary that has revolutionised Apple from a dying company into a mega giant. Without Jobs at the helm it's hard to say what will happen to Apple, and dare I say it the implications of Apple failing could be massive.

Apple, to you and me, may mean iPhones, Macs, iPads and iPods though to many they mean savings, pensions and employment. If Jobs' health is failing as some are thinking then a lot of people are going to be effected. Whilst Apple may be losing it's figure head and the world losing a visionary, a lot of people may end up losing a lot of their investments. We can only hope that Tim Cook manages to follow up the work done by Jobs or...we could be up the proverbial creek.

Whilst I'm not the biggest fan of Mr Jobs I do wish that he is fine and that I, like others, are over worried, though if Apple do "lose their head", we may be looking at a very different world in 12 months time.