Unfortunate as it may seem, Steve Jobs is in dire need of medical assistance and would thus delve into another sabbatical soon enough. And considering his age, 55 that is, Jobs has succumbed to severe health setbacks for the major chunk of the decade gone by. And as I do not have significant data to prove if it was his previously diagnosed illness that is spurring up again or something else, all I do is wish for his successful come back to his technological ambitions at Apple.

So, the question remains; what does the future hold for Digital Broadcasters Apple? There was a hint of clarity in Jobs’ letter to his employees stating that he would continue as the CEO and would thus "be involved in major strategic decision making for the company". In essence, he will be the guiding factor of the company’s strategic decision making while in the meantime Tim Cook, his COO, would be responsible for Apple’s day to day operations. And as a leader, Cook has proven himself as a reliable counterpart to Jobs in his absence in terms of pacing the company forward as it was acknowledged during Jobs sabbatical with his initial health problems back in 2003. Cook needless to say, is geared up for the upcoming challenge with his chest up and chin high.

Nonetheless, Apple’s future prospects are still being scrutinised by many. In many minds across the globe, the significance of Jobs runs in parallel to Apple’s identification. In other words, Jobs is Apple. Although the digital broadcasters (Apple) have attempted to divert people’s minds about the company being more than just one person’s ideations, it has nevertheless been Jobs who has been the face of the company for most launches and inaugurations while his health consented him to do so. And by far, this strategy has proven fruitful to Apple and in all honestly would do so in most other companies only if the CEO’s could radiate the aura and magnetism that Jobs is able to pull off.

With regards to Apple’s cornerstones, there are two likely candidates that could spruce up in the next six months; what those new innovations could be Apple’s leaves to us to keep guessing. Apple has been keeping their iPhone up to date year after year since 2007 so we could presumably expect a fifth generation iPhone to be launched in June this year. And in all likelihood, there could be the next evolutionary iPad unveiled some time around Easter but uncertainty still surrounds this subject. The launch of these upcoming projects does seldom have a chance of being delivered to the public by Jobs and there is no news of who that person would be while Jobs time off.

But as shareholders are perceived to be, in Apple’s case as well, they require reassurance by instilling "a succession plan" in place in order to keep the feeling of the business being in a safe market grid. Apple does however need to portray confidence but if their confidence is attributed to Jobs as the front man, Apple sure has work to do for their shareholders to feel secure.

Needless to say, the outcome of the above related issue cannot be quantified at the moment due to the time span that still exists and a lot of weight is now being thrown at how long Jobs would be away for. As expected, Digital Broadcasters Apple has characteristically been reluctant to comment on their CEO’s health front reasoning the same as; ‘it’ being a private matter in the past and without hesitation would probably notify the public with the similar message.

Steve Jobs is definitely a pioneer in terms of his innovative creations at Apple with his collaborated dexterity to acknowledge what the customers want and sell the same with finesse. His absence in my opinion however, does not bring Apple to an impediment as there is a gamut of other tech-gurus at Apple to keep the company running and I reckon they may do just fine. Although there certainly exists people who would beg to disagree, on a conclusive front, it should come by no surprise if silence is what is gained from Apple’s side in terms of their reaction.