One bite at Apple enough for Jobs

Caretaker CEO turns down permanent union with Apple to return to Pixar.

The Steve Jobs saga at Apple Computer is over, as he has decided notar. to take the chief executive position - again.

Since Jobs returned to the manufacturer as interim CEO in July, he has found himself surrounded by rumours that he would take the position permanently.

Jobs has made ambiguous statements about his plans, fuelling speculation that he would not find a suitable candidate and would take the job himself.

Two weeks ago he said he would give his final answer on return from his holiday (PC Dealer, 24 September).

But on his return, he told analysts at a briefing held by Pixar, the animation studio he runs, that he will not become permanent CEO. He said he expects to return full-time to Pixar in January and will continue to help the Apple board look for an Apple CEO.

Lawrence Levy, chief financial officer at Pixar, said Jobs had been honest about his job. 'Nothing has changed and he is still interim CEO of Apple.

The company will appoint a new CEO by the end of the year.'

Analysts have responded favourably to Jobs turning down the Apple job, claiming that he was not the right person to turn around the company's fortunes. Jobs has largely been held responsible for the turmoil in the Macintosh clone market by canning the licensing deals with a number of vendors, including Motorola and Power Computing.

One analyst said it would be hard for Apple to find a replacement CEO before the end of the year, as it is starting its hunt from scratch.

Jobs returned to Apple at the end of last year, after the manufacturer bought his software company Next. He took a more day-to-day running role of the company, following the ousting of former CEO Gil Amelio.