APPLE chief executive Steve Jobs, who has taken a back seat in the running of the technology giant in recent months because of illness, has received a liver transplant and is expected to return to work.
Sources in the US say he is likely to be back in his day-to-day job later this month after surgery in April. Jobs, who suffered from pancreatic cancer, had put his absence from Apple down to "unspecified" health issues.
It is thought he will in
itially return to work part-time as chief operating officer Tim Cook continues to manage daily operations.
Sources say some Apple directors knew Jobs had an operation in Tennessee and had been briefed by doctors.
Many commentators had expected Jobs to be back at Apple in time for the launch of its latest iPhone last Friday. The new 3GS smartphone features a faster processor, longer battery life and can shoot videos.
Although hundreds of shoppers queued outside Apple stores to be among the first to get the phone, the launch did not attract the same crowds as the introduction of last year's 3G model.
Apple has sold more than 40 million units of the iPhone and iPod Touch, which uses the same software. The touch-screen phone competes with the more business-oriented BlackBerry from Research in Motion.
One of Apple's main competitive advantages is the breadth of its App Store, a collection of more than 50,000 easily downloadable programs from games to business applications.
Shares of Apple rose 1.3 per cent last Friday to $137.64.
