The debate will no doubt rage for some time about how Apple will fare now Steve Jobs has stepped down as chief executive. Will the group retain its extraordinary leadership in the technology sphere – one that has carried it to the brink of becoming the world’s most valuable listed company?

Few bosses – even founders – have defined their companies with quite the intensity that Mr Jobs brought to the task, nor enjoyed the same success. More than a chief executive, he has been a sort of impresario – the presiding intelligence behind Apple’s growth.

The company’s fortunes have waxed with his presence and waned without him. Creatively, all of the fecund periods have certainly been under Mr Jobs’ leadership – from the development of the iconic Macintosh in the 1980s to the recent flowering of iPod, iPhone and iPad. It is hard to think of anything memorable in his absence. And it has been the same with Apple’s finances. Contrast its current prosperity with the position in the 1990s, when it nearly collapsed into bankruptcy.