Jobs set to return to Apple this month?

After being away from Apple since January on medical leave, Steve Jobs is expected to return soon to Apple. When Mr. Jobs originally stepped down at the beginning of the year, June was mentioned as a target date for his return. The timing becomes a little more suspicious when you consider that the computer firm's annual WWDC show starts Monday in San Fransisco and the keynote speech opening the festivities has been the scene of major iPhone announcements made by Jobs over the last two years.

In 2007, Mr. Jobs introduced the iPhone to the world. A year later, it was the iPhone 3G that shared the stage with the Apple CEO, and while a variety of Apple executives led by Senior VP Philip Schiller is expected to handle the speech this year, there is also strong evidence that the company will be introducing a new model of their touch screen phone during the conference. If a new iPhone model is announced this coming week, it probably won't be Mr. Jobs making the announcement. One person familiar with the situation said that while Jobs is getting better and is on schedule to return this month, "He was one real sick guy," said this person.

Since Jobs departure on January 14th, the stock has rise 68% as COO Tim Cook has been handlig the day to day operations at Apple. Even if  Steve Jobs does return this month, it is not certain that he would immediately take back the responsibilities of the CEO job, although you can never count him out. After all, the enigmatic executive has already fought back from pancereatic cancer which left him looking gaunt after losing weight.

No one knows what lies ahead for Mr. Jobs, but after all of the health issues he has had to overcome, what better way for him to show that he has returned than by surprising everyone by stepping on that stage this Monday with a new iPhone model in his hand.

source: WSJ