Apple will be fine without Steve Jobs, our poll reckons
Jobs has resigned as CEO of Apple, but our Facebook poll suggests the house Steve built will get along fine without him.
Steve Jobs has stepped down as CEO of Apple, but the results of our Facebook poll suggest there's widespread confidence the company he founded 35 years ago will manage just fine without him.
Yesterday we posed the question on our Facebook page, 'Will Apple succeed without Steve Jobs at the helm?' Of the 166 people who responded, 96 of you ticked the box marked, 'Yes, Apple will be just as successful in future.'
That's 58 per cent of you, which -- if our maths is correct (no promises) -- is a clear majority.
On the other hand, 58 people (35 per cent) went for, 'Apple will survive, but without Steve it won't be as big', and just 12 of you (7 per cent) ticked the box marked, 'No. Without Steve, Apple is doomed.'
While those results show confidence in Apple, it's impossible to know what will happen now Jobs no longer has his firm hand on Apple's tiller. We'd be amazed if Apple diverts from its strategy of making iPhones and iPads (despite what this rather amusing Onion article states), but we don't know if simply sticking to the formula will cut the mustard.
Apple has famously forged new, weird and uncharted waters in the past -- if it simply sticks with what it knows, rather than trying new stuff, competitors such as Google and Samsung could overtake it. High-end Android mobiles such as the Samsung Galaxy S2 are already more than capable of rivalling the iPhone.
What do you reckon? You can still vote in the poll, or let fly in the comments below or on our Facebook wall. And when you're done, take a fond look back on Steve Jobs' career with these photos.