JOHN MARKOFF
Rumours of Steven P Jobs' ill health have been greatly exaggerated. That is what Steve Jobs, Apple's chief executive, has been telling a number of his associates, even as concerns about his health have weighed on the company's stock price.
The latest flurry of talk was set off on Monday when, in a conference call after the release of Apple's earnings, a company executive responded to a question about Mr Jobs' condition by saying that it was ''a private matter''.
But in recent weeks, Mr Jobs has reassured several people that he is doing well and that four years after a successful operation to treat a rare form of pancreatic cancer, he is cancer-free.
People who are close to Steve Jobs say that he had a surgical procedure this year to address a problem that was contributing to a loss of weight. These people declined to be identified because Mr Jobs had not authorised them to speak about his health.
On stage to unveil the iPhone 3G last month, Steve Jobs' gaunt appearance led to speculation that his cancer had returned. An Apple spokesman has said that in the weeks before the event Mr Jobs had picked up a ''common bug'' and was taking a course of antibiotics.
Mr Jobs ran a high fever for the week preceding his presentation, according to an industry executive he spoke with. He considered cancelling his appearance because he was still feeling ill, but did not want to skip a long-scheduled event, that person said.
During an interview after the presentation, Steve Jobs responded to a reporter's question about how he was feeling by saying, ''I feel fine.''
He has told several associates, as well as some members of Apple's board, that he is dealing with nutritional problems in the wake of his cancer surgery. Medical descriptions of the surgery state that in some cases it leads to weight loss and low energy.
Analysts were divided over how much of a role the talk about Mr Jobs' health played in Tuesday's decline in Apple's stock. After closing at $166.29 on Monday, the shares opened lower and then recovered during the day to close at $162.02, a 2.6% drop.
There was intense discussion of the significance of a statement made by Peter Oppenheimer, the chief financial officer, that Apple was planning a ''product transition'' that would lower its gross margins by three to four percentage points during the next year.
Still, analysts said Mr Jobs's health was on investors' minds.
''Every client call I've had today has brought up the health issue,'' said Charles Wolf, a securities analyst at Needham & Co. At the same time, however, Mr Wolf said that the overriding issues were basic ones about the company's business in the wake of one of its best quarters. ''I think the drop was based on the margin; that's when the stock really cratered.''
Apple is, of course, not only private about Mr Jobs' personal life, but about virtually every aspect of its business.
The public image of the company is carefully orchestrated around high-profile product introductions by Mr Jobs. And the extraordinary degree to which Apple's recovery and continued success is associated with Mr Jobs has made it unique in the eyes of shareholders.
''These are material questions given that his footprint is all over the company,'' said A M Sacconaghi Jr, a securities analyst at Sanford C Bernstein. ''The fact is, if you're a CEO of a public company you're a public figure.''
The company has said that it has formulated a succession strategy in case Steve Jobs left the company, but that it was confidential.
Mr Jobs, who is keeping his own counsel on the succession issue, was on vacation this week and did not return phone calls. NYT
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