APPLE - UNCERTAIN WITHOUT STEVEN JOBS?

Reports about the deteriorating health of cancer-stricken Apple boss and founder Steve Jobs have fuelled speculations about the future of the world's most important and innovative technology company.

Apple stands alone in unique marketing and is used as the benchmark for companies large and small. It was Apple who turned the cellular phone industry on it's ear. That's saying something coming from a company that was instrumental in creating an industry.

It's been reported that 55-year-old Jobs, who has been admitted at the Stanford Cancer Centre in Palo Alto in California since Jan 17, has just six weeks to live.

Though the reports have not yet impacted the Apple stock much, analysts and observers are uneasy about Apple's future without its co-founder who has become synonymous with its unique products.

According Jeffery Young, who co-authored the book "iCon Steve Jobs: The Greatest Second Act the History of Business," Jobs' illness will have a "significant" impact on Apple as the iconic company braces for a stand-off with a brand-new and revitalized Microsoft.

"They're facing a challenge that's akin to what happened with Windows vs. Macintosh back in the 80s and 90s,o Friday." Young stated in an recent interview in San Francisco.

"The same thing is happening now in the tablet and iPhone markets, where there are many different players and many products all competing against Apple with its integrated platform," he told the network.

Young said he won't say that Jobs will not return to lead Apple again. But his departure will have significant implications for the company, he added.

Meanwhile for the short haul Apple will continue to execute and deliver quality products. However the real risk for Apple is in the mid-term, in the next couple of years, as it faces major challenges from Google and Android in both the tablet and the iPhone markets.

"That's going to require the kind of insight and foresight that the company will be hard pressed to deliver without Steve there."

Apple currently sits on a pile of cash to the tune of $60 billion and its share closed $350.56 on Wall Street Friday - down 2.16%

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