Foxconn issues brief statement on Jobs' departure

Steve Jobs was in Apple offices for a complete work day on the day of his resignation as CEO, according to a person described as "close" to the executive. Jobs is in fact said to have attended a regular board meeting, in spite of being in a "weak" condition and having been housebound for several weeks. The resignation is not a sign of a sudden plummet in Jobs' health, the anonymous source claims. A separate source alleges that Jobs had an emotional meeting with his executive staff after talking to the board, whom me told he intends to be an active chairman.

While Apple and Jobs have avoided discussing the topic directly, many have worried that Jobs' health is on a terminal downward spiral. The medical leave which ended with his resignation was his third and longest ever, having begun in January and persisted for well over eight months. During his second leave, in 2009, he underwent a liver transplant thought to be related to complications from pancreatic cancer, for which he originally received surgery in 2004. A tumor was thought to have been successfully removed at the time, but the cancer may have recurred.

Apple's main manufacturing partner, Foxconn, has in the meantime issued a statement. "Foxconn wishes Steve Jobs will get well," the statement reads. "We think Tim Cook has shown good work as stand-in CEO during Jobs’s absences and expect Apple will perform well in the future. The relationship between Cook and Foxconn has been very close and we expect that the relationship will become even closer in future."

Foxconn rarely talks about its connections with Apple. It has at times become an embarrassment, since leaks of several Apple products are believed to have originated with Foxconn workers. More importantly, despite protests from Jobs and Apple to the contrary, both critics and workers have complained of sweatshop-like conditions at Foxconn plants, which may be responsible for a string of suicides during the past two years.

By Electronista Staff