Analysts Disagree Over Whether Steve Jobs Will Present at September Media Event

[MacRumors]

A pair of research reports released today from prominent research analysts disagree over whether Apple CEO Steve Jobs will make his first public appearance since returning from a medical leave of absence for a liver transplant by presenting at next week's media event in San Francisco.

Fortune points to a note to clients from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, who predicts that Jobs will take the stage to unveil new iPods with digital cameras and possible updates to iTunes and iTunes Store offerings. While Munster predicts that the new product introductions will likely not impress investors looking for major news, he does note that an appearance by Jobs would be a positive for Apple's share price.

Jobs' return, however, is likely to be greeted by the Street as "a slight positive" for Apple's shares -- "the first public confirmation of Jobs' health since his return to the company," according to Munster.

Jobs last appearance at an Apple event was on Oct. 14, 2008, when he introduced the unibody MacBooks. In January he took a medical leave to replace his failing liver.

AppleInsider, however, cites a report from Kaufman Bros. analyst Shaw Wu, who does not see Jobs heading up next Wednesday's event.

Wu, however, believes the keynote will be delivered by Phil Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing.

"It is not clear that Steve Jobs will be present," Wu said, "but most would welcome his appearance as a positive surprise."

Both reports appear to be based merely on speculation and not on any inside knowledge of Apple's plans for the event.

Article Link: Analysts Disagree Over Whether Steve Jobs Will Present at September Media Event

 

[ouimetnick]

I just want to see Steve announce that new iPod touch that I want. I hope iTunes 9 will be written in Cocoa too. Only 8 more days.

 

[Unspoken Demise]

I just wanna see him poke out from behind the curtain, take a deep breath, and say, "hey."

 

[SFStateStudent]

My analyst says I need to make more visits to his office! Actually, I'm leaning more towards Jobs making the Presentation, but it won't do anything for Apple's stock, it's already hovering at 170'ish. Does Munster get paid to make his horrific predictions?

 

[talkingfuture]

I think he needs to be present for at least part of the presentation to put to bed all the stories about his health once and for all. If everyone sees him do a keynote they can get on to talking about the product again and there don't need to be anymore stories like this.

 

[Ericatomars]

8 more days lets bring this thing!! I dont care who presents it i just wanna see whats to come. Im really hoping for a camera in the new touch... and maybe something new with the shuffle. Well dont really care either way but i wanna see the new itouch

 

[DOUGHNUT]

what exactly are these "analysts" paid to do? in the end, they know no more than anyone of us tracking the rumor sites. whether Steve will present at the media event, only Steve knows.

 

[talkingfuture]

what exactly are these "analysts" paid to do? in the end, they know no more than anyone of us tracking the rumor sites. whether Steve will present at the media event, only Steve knows.

I sometimes wonder exactly what being an analyst entails. Are most of us analyzing on here without the salary?

 

[notromeel]

save it

I'd rather see Jobs save his grand re-entry until the tablet/netbook concept is unveiled. Wouldn't you much rather see him have a come back with that, than an ipod/itunes update?

 

[Luap]

I sometimes wonder exactly what being an analyst entails. Are most of us analyzing on here without the salary?

Fact of the matter is, analysts do not know any more than you or I. And are no better at making educated guesses than you or I.
Indeed, they are just as good at talking out of their backsides as any poster on here (And there is no shortage of posters on here that do that)

For whatever reason, its a bit of a current trend of Mac sites like this and Macnn etc to follow analysts as if they were in some way good sources of factual information.

They are not.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I don't expect Jobs to do the entire show, however, I would wonder if he wasn't present. My guess is that Steve will come out and do the whole "Touch is great, sales fantastic, blah, blah, blah routine and then hand it over to Schiller then come out at the end, thank Schiller and any other presenters and introduce John Mayer or whatever other lackluster musician Apple can muster up. End of show.

Fact of the matter is, analysts do not know any more than you or I. And are no better at making educated guesses than you or I.
Indeed, they are just as good at talking out of their backsides as any poster on here (And there is no shortage of posters on here that do that)

For whatever reason, its a bit of a current trend of Mac sites like this and Macnn etc to follow analysts as if they were in some way good sources of factual information.

They are not.

Not exactly. While I agree they often speak based on unconfirmed facts based on off-the-record conversations, they are more hooked-in to the industry than your average MR poster.

 

[zombitronic]

Does Munster get paid to make his horrific predictions?

Yes.

Are most of us analyzing on here without the salary?

Yes.

 

[kornyboy]

Wirelessly posted (iPhone: Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 3_0_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/528.18 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile/7A400 Safari/528.16)

I don't expect to see him for at least another few months. He may surprise us though. All-in-all, I just hope he's doing well.

 

[Michael73]

Tablet = Jobs
No Tablet ≠ Jobs

 

[notromeel]

right? I mean, think about if he showed up for this music event.. then did the tablet release. But what if Apple saved that RDF for tablet - 10x bang.

 

[Porco]

I vote that Macrumors starts a new section called 'lol @ analysts'.

 

[corinhorn]

. . . and maybe something new with the shuffle.

You mean something like buttons?

 

[CaryMacGuy]

This whole debate can be put to rest with a simple press release from 1 Infinite Loop. My instinct is that Steve will do it if he wants to. I don't know whether he enjoys doing these presentations. They are a lot of work to prepare for and perhaps he is going to take a more "out of the spotlight" role in Apple goings on.

If Apple introduces a Tablet, I suspect he will be involved in the unveiling but for these minor yearly events, I wouldn't be surprised if he declines

 

[corinhorn]

I don't know whether he enjoys doing these presentations. They are a lot of work to prepare for and perhaps he is going to take a more "out of the spotlight" role in Apple goings on.

Steve Jobs loves the spotlight and he thrives in it. If you haven't read it, you should read The Second Coming of Steve Jobs. You will get a much better idea of how much Steve likes to (and needs to) wow audiences.

 

[BVGuitarPlayer]

In other news, MacRumors appropriately gets ripped on for its newly found levels of excessive stupidity.

http://modmyi.com/forums/mac-news/682957-mac-rumor-mill-reliable-ever.html

 

[TheSlush]

I'd rather see Jobs save his grand re-entry until the tablet/netbook concept is unveiled. Wouldn't you much rather see him have a come back with that, than an ipod/itunes update?

Tablet = Jobs
No Tablet ≠ Jobs

If Apple introduces a Tablet, I suspect he will be involved in the unveiling but for these minor yearly events, I wouldn't be surprised if he declines

All true. You can take this to the bank: Steve will wait to compound the drama of his return with the drama of the new groundbreaking, industry-saving, market-defining tablet unveiling. No chance he'll be involved in this "Rock and Roll" media event, folks.

 

[ppnkg]

a most futile disagreement...

 

[Cheffy Dave]

I hope so, it will lift everyones spirits

 

[mentholiptus]

If they're announcing The Beatles catalog coming to the iTMS (9-9-09), then Steve will do the talking.

 

[lazyrighteye]

I don't think next week's announcement is big enough for Steve.
Phil will conduct that keynote.

I think Steve's next, and last (that's right people) keynote will be reserved for that of a tablet/netbook. The iPhone announcement was Steve's crowning moment to date (despite what the "iPhone killed the Mac" crowd will decry). I have a gut feeling Steve wants to step away from Apple sooner than later; focus on his health, his family, those things he neglected whilst returning Apple to the forefront of the industry (in many ways). But he wants to go out with a bang. The only concept I see bang-worthy enough in the near future is this tablet/netbook device - not revised iPods, not tweaks to iTunes, not speed bumps on iMacs, not...

I could be wrong.