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A report in the Wall Street Journal claims Apple CEO Steve Jobs is on to track to return to work by July 1. Jobs said in January that he intended to take a medical leave for six months to deal with an unspecified illness, which has since been described as a hormone imbalance.

Jobs, 54, was treated for a rare type of pancreatic cancer in 2004.

Apple watchers believe Jobs’ return may be timed to coincide with a new Apple product launch. It’s also possible the company co-founder may make a surprise appearance at this year’s developers conference, which would be appropriate, considering his appearance at last year’s event triggered a flood of rumors about his health. Indeed, the Apple co-founder looked extremely thin at the time, leading pundits to speculate that the pancreatic cancer might have returned.

But in a letter to company employees, Jobs dismissed such rumors, noting that the hormone imbalance was robbing his body of its ability to absorb protein. He went on to explain that “the remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I've already begun treatment. But, just like I didn't lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it.”

If Jobs does return to Apple in July, he’ll have his hands full. While the company reported stellar results in the second quarter of its fiscal 2009 ($1.2 billion profit on $8.2 billion in revenues), its cash-cow remains the iPhone. And that product faces some big challenges.

For openers, it appears that iPhone network provider AT&T has yet to resolve many of the issues with its service, with customer complaints about dropped calls and spotty coverage mounting. And while Apple management has expressed its commitment to AT&T, you have to wonder how long Apple will let things go before it bails on AT&T and seeks out additional network carriers (Verizon, for one).

In addition, the iPhone now must square off with some formidable foes in the marketplace. The Palm Pre is out and is generally getting good reviews. That’s bad news for Apple. And despite a lackluster response to the BlackBerry Storm, RIM continues to ring up solid sales. The latest Curve is a hit, and it’s likely RIM will come back with an improved Storm (with Wi-Fi) before long to tackle the consumer market.

At the same time, Google’s entry into the smart phone wars—Android—provides a lot of ammunition for smart phone manufacturers. An Android-based phone suddenly gives iPhone competitors a great sales hook—one that might steal younger buyers away from the iPhone.

Meanwhile, Apple must move on the netbook front. Acer has already announced plans to start selling Android-based smartphones and Adroid-based netbooks? If that happens, customers may not need broadband data plans for both devices. That would be a breakthrough.

Apple brass may dismiss netbooks, probably because of thiny-thin profit margins. But a whole lot of customers are buying the potent portables. If Apple management wants to know why, maybe they should take a look at this review from CNET of the H-P Mini 2140.

Comments (2)

	1. 06-05-2009 14:54
	maybe I am a conspiracist at heart, but I think Jobs' return is awfully coincidental with the new iphone debut reportedly next week. I hope he's well, and I think everyone wishes him the best, but his arrival and the next iPhone arrival together will obviously get tons and tons of press. Poor Palm. Registered

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	2. 06-05-2009 15:41
	Judy,    I agree with you on the theory, it's just too good to be true that Apple is releasing products just as the Palm-pre is getting to market. Registered

Jay Rajani

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