FLAGS FLEW at half-mast at Apple operations around the world yesterday as the technology company mourned the passing of Steve Jobs, the man credited both with transforming it and saving it.
Apple’s headquarters at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California, was transformed into a memorial to Jobs, who died on Wednesday night at the age of 56 after a battle with cancer. Bagpipes sounded the tune of Amazing Grace as people placed flowers around a white iPad with a picture of Mr Jobs.
The tributes were repeated at Apple stores across the world. In Cork, where Apple employs more than 2,000 people at its distribution, supply chain and back-office operation, flags were lowered to half-mast.
In Dublin, one of the main Apple sellers, CompuB, carried a simple tribute to Mr Jobs in its window – a photo of the late co-founder and some roses.
In San Francisco’s Mission Dolores Park, people gathered for an iPhone-lit vigil. There were impromptu tributes at stores from New York to Hong Kong, and an outpouring of grief on micro-blogging site Twitter.
When Steve Jobs re-took the reins at Apple in 1997, the company was said to be close to bankruptcy. Fourteen years on, it is competing for the mantle of the most valuable publicly traded company in the world. The share price has rocketed 9,000 per cent since Jobs’s return and doubled in value in the past two years.
Market reaction to his passing was muted yesterday with Apple shares recovering quickly from an initial 1.5 per cent decline.
US president Barack Obama was among the many who paid tribute to Mr Jobs.
“The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented,” Mr Obama said.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said working with him was “an insanely great honour”. Taoiseach Enda Kenny paid tribute to his “creative genius” and “innovative prowess”.
“His legacy will be not just his products and business achievements, but also the way in which he altered mindsets in the business world and in everyday life,” he said.
Mr Jobs revealed in 2004 that he had been treated for a rare form of pancreatic cancer, and took a second medical leave from the company in January this year. He officially stepped down as chief executive in August, saying he could no longer fulfil his role, and handed over to Tim Cook, who had been running the company in his absence.
The company unveiled its latest iPhone on Tuesday, the iPhone 4S, but the man who is credited with the popular phone’s creation was absent.
The company released a short statement on Wednesday, confirming that he had passed away.
Mr Cook now faces the challenge of continuing the momentum that Mr Jobs brought to the company, amid increasing competition from rivals such as Google.
“Apple’s business model will continue, but Steve Jobs was the cleverest product innovator and most precise brand creator in history,” said Daniel Weston, a portfolio adviser at Schroeder Equities in Munich. “Someone like that will not be replaced in our lifetimes.”
But the company had been preparing for the charismatic former chief executive’s succession, and Cook will have the support of a team of experienced executives who have worked together under Jobs.
“He created an infrastructure that this management team can build on for a long time,” said Tim Bajarin, a technology analyst at Creative Strategies. “The bigger question is how fast will they innovate and take advantage of that infrastructure for things like new devices, applications and services.” – (Additional reporting: Reuters / Bloomberg)
