Apple's CEO resignation makes ripples in China

Updated: 2011-08-25 17:26

(Xinhua)

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Apple's CEO resignation makes ripples in China
A local television journalist reports in front of an Apple retail store at the financial district in Shanghai August 25, 2011. Apple's CEO Steve Jobs relinquished the reins at Apple Inc to right-hand man Tim Cook on Wednesday, after 14 years in command at a company he brought back from the brink and turned into the world's largest technology corporation.[Photo/Agencies]

BEIJING -- The resignation of Silicon Valley icon Steve Jobs from the top managing post of Apple Inc has got many in China questioning the mighty US technology firm's future.

Jobs' resignation ranked the top hot topic of the day on Sina Weibo, the country's most popular microblogging site, with 1.5 million posts on the topic by midday Thursday, hours after the California-based company announced Jobs resigned as Chief Executive Officer.

"If Jobs eventually leaves Apple, I will not buy Apple products any more," said one Internet user.

It is reported that Apple's revenue in the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong reached $3.8 billion in the second quarter this year, six times the amount in the same quarter last year.

The iPhone only officially went on sale in the Chinese mainland in October 2009 and the iPad hit the market in April 2010.

Sina Weibo started hosting a special section on Jobs' resignation Thursday and invited Internet users to participate in online surveys on the matter.

On the question of "how do you think Jobs' resignation will affect Apple," more than 2,600 people, or half of the survey respondents, said the company would lose its soul, while 1,789 people, 35 percent of the respondents, said the impact would be limited as long as Jobs stayed with the company.

While 31 percent of the respondents polled in another survey said they would be "loyal Apple fans" with or without Jobs, another 49 percent said at least they still intended to buy iPhone 5, whereas 20 percent said they would no longer buy Apple products.

Li Yi, deputy director of China Mobile Internet Industry Alliance, said he believed that Apple could only reach its prime with Jobs in control.

Industry analyst Kang Zhiyi with Donghai Securities said Apple's hot selling products, iPhones and iPads, would not have come out without Jobs. As Jobs still retains the board chairman post, Apple's development strategy is not likely to be derailed, he added.