Jobs Exit as Apple CEO May Be ‘Lease of Life’ for Sony, Nokia

Steve Jobs shook up the electronics world for a decade with the iPod, iPhone and iPad at the expense Sony Corp., Nokia Oyj and Hewlett-Packard Co. His exit as Apple Inc.’s chief executive officer may pave the way for competitors to regain market share, analysts said.

Sony and Nokia were among Apple rivals whose shares advanced during Asian and European trading amid speculation Jobs’s withdrawal may increase their ability to compete in products ranging from smartphones to tablet computers. Jobs, who will be replaced by Chief Operating Officer Tim Cook, rescued Apple from the brink of failure and turned it into the world’s biggest technology company.

“It’s going to give competitors a bit more of a lease of life to go out and compete harder,” said Richard Windsor, global technology analyst at Nomura International Plc. “It’s been thought about, talked about endlessly for the past several years that Tim Cook would probably take over so while you get an initial knee-jerk reaction on the downside, we would probably expect that not to last very long.”

(Aug 25)