Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs sent an email to the computer maker's employees Monday to say that he is taking a medical leave of absence but will remain CEO and stay involved in the company's major strategic decisions.

Apple Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook will be responsible for Apple's day-to-day operations, Mr. Jobs wrote in his email.

The leave marks the second time in recent years Mr. Jobs has been forced to step back from his role at Apple. He took medical leave in the first half of 2009, returning to the company in late June of that year. Mr. Jobs, a survivor of pancreatic cancer, received a liver transplant while on leave.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703396604576087690312543086.html

Arrgghh.. and it was going so well with AAPL. Too well I suppose, it's going to fall off a cliff now.

Interesting timing of this news though:

- The morning of a stock market holiday

- The day before announcing earnings which are expected to exceed expectations significantly.

Get well soon, Steve Jobs

My guess is we've seen the last of Steve Jobs at Apple. If they came right out and said that he was too sick to run the company the stock would drop like a stone. Instead they will have him play CEO while Tim Cook runs Apple and when people see that the company is still doing well the stock should balance out and then I bet they will announce that he's stepping down.

In the short term 3-5 years I think Apple will be fine and continue to do well but I'm worried about the long term potential of the company. No one really knows the full extent of Steve's involvement in the company but I suspect it's rather substantial. When Apple tried to be a regular computer company before it almost went bankrupt and after the loss of their visionary I'd hate to see them head down that path again.

I sure hope I'm totally wrong and Steve comes rebounding back better than ever but let's face it the guy has had some serious health problems and how many more years does he really have left?

I guess the current bet is that Apple is going to continue to expand and thrive by the platforms they have in place now - iPad, iPhone, etc - and by flawlessly executing, which is what Tim Cook is good at.

Execution is also the difference between the Apple now and then. Apple used to make computers in California and they cost 2x what PCs cost, or more. Now they invest significant amounts of money in a very efficient supply chain. Take iPods - they won because others couldn't make mp3 players any better _or_ cheaper than iPods. This may be repeated with tablets and even phones. Apple is currently enjoying huge margins on iPhones - but that's because they are still sold out world-wide... iPhone sales are supply constrained right now.

Another explanation for continued investor confidence is that Jobs is a genius with a vision - and his greatest product is Apple itself. He has most likely put in place strategies on how the company can function without for a long time to come.

Anyway nobody can know when or if he'll be back ...