Apple investors and Apple fans heaved a collective sigh of relief on Monday morning after CEO and founder Steve Jobs finally made an attempt to end rumors that he’s on his deathbed.
Jobs sent a letter to his followers, who will be gathering at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco in his absence, explaining his recent weight-loss has been due to a hormonal imbalance.
As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority. Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause — a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.
Jobs goes on to say the remedy is ”relatively simple and straightforward” and that he’s already begun treatment.
Meanwhile, Apple fans at Macworld Expo will miss a Jobs appearance and the analysts over at Bernstein Research expect the show to be “relatively unexciting”. They expect the major highlights to include a demonstration of Mac OS X 10.6 “Snow Leopard”; new Mac desktops and a modest update to the AppleTV.
But Bernstein says don’t hold your breath for a new cheaper iPhone as has been speculated.
A new iPhone is unlikely, in our view, though we do expect Apple to introduce a lower-end iPhone model within the first half of the year.
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