Apple’s management team faced their first public grilling over Steve Jobs’ health tonight after unveiling the company’s quarterly results. Both Tim Cook, Apple’s COO and stand-in CEO, and Peter Oppenheimer, the company’s CFO, faced down investors and the press, while Jobs himself was not present to comment.
In a question and answer session after the latest financial figures were revealed, Apple’s management team was asked how Jobs’ health affected operation of the company by Ben Reitzes of Barclays Capital.
“Steve is the CEO of Apple and intends to be involved in major strategic decisions,” replied Oppenheimer, before Cook went on to praise the company’s staff as a whole.
“There is an extraordinary breadth and depth and tenure among Apple’s executive team,” he said, as if indicating that the company is still in steady hands.
“These executives lead over 35,000 employees that I would all call ‘wicked smart’,” he added. “And that’s in all areas of the company, in engineering, marketing, operations, sales, and all the rest… [Apple is] on the face of the Earth to make great products, and that’s not changing.”
Strong words, and incredibly strong financial results. It sounds like Jobs can rest easy, at least until he gets back to the office.
TBC | £TBC | Apple
Tags: Apple, financial, health, peter oppenheimer, Q1 2009, Steve Jobs, tim cook