Steve Jobs: Apple Stores Close for Celebration of CEO's Life

Steve Nagata, right, holds an Apple iPad displaying an image of a candle as he takes part in a vigil outside an Apple store. (Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg/Getty Images)

 

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Though the new iPhone 4S has drawn lines at Apple stores across the country, many of those stores were quiet today today as the company marked the passing of Steve Jobs.

Many Apple stores closed at 1 p.m. ET today while a "celebration of Steve Jobs' life" was held at an outdoor amphitheater at Apple headquarters in California. The memorial lasted about 90 minutes, and employees were invited to watch video of it on a live webcast. The event was closed to the public and the news media.

Jobs died on Oct. 5, surrounded by family, after a long battle with cancer. He was first diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004, and traveled to Tennessee for a liver transplant in 2009. His funeral was on Oct. 7, and there was a private memorial service this past weekend.

Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Steve Nagata, right, holds an Apple iPad... View Full Size

Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Steve Nagata, right, holds an Apple iPad displaying an image of a candle as he takes part in a vigil outside an Apple store.

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Apple, meanwhile, keeps moving on. It reported impressive earnings Tuesday for the last quarter -- profits up 54 percent and sales up 39 percent -- but because it missed analysts' expectations for the first time since 2004, Apple stock dropped more than five percent today.

Apple said sales of the iPhone 4 slowed over the summer as customers waited for last week's release of the iPhone 4S. The company said the new phone was a rousing success, with more than 4 million sold in the first three days.

Jobs co-founded Apple Computer in 1976 and, with his childhood friend Steve Wozniak, marketed what was considered the world's first successful personal computer, the Apple II.

Industry watchers called Jobs a master innovator -- perhaps on a par with Thomas Edison -- changing the worlds of computing, recorded music and communications.

"Steve's brilliance, passion and energy were the source of countless innovations that enrich and improve all of our lives," read a statement by Apple's board of directors the night he died. "The world is immeasurably better because of Steve."