SAN JOSE, Calif. — Apple said chief executive Steve Jobs won’t deliver the keynote at the Macworld trade show and that the company will no longer participate in the conference after next month’s event. Philip Schil ler, senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, will give the opening address at the conference Jan. 6 in San Francisco, Apple said Tuesday in a statement.
Jobs, left, who returned as CEO of Apple in 1997, gave the keynote speech at the previous 11 Macworlds, using the gathering of Apple fans to introduce products such as the iPhone and MacBook Air. A no-show may mean the company has no major new products to talk about or that Jobs is unwell, said Jim Grossman, an analyst at Thrivent Financial for Lutherans.
Jobs’ health was the subject of speculation this year after he appeared visibly thinner at several events starting in June. Jobs, 53, had successful surgery four years ago to treat pancreatic cancer. Bloomberg News; AP file photo
