Apple stock drops 5%, wipes billions off

A five percent fall in Apple stock following Steve Jobs's resignation as CEO has wiped more than £10.3 billion off the iPhone maker's market value. Apple's stock market value fell from $348 billion to $330.5 billion in after-hours trading on Wednesday night as investors demonstrated concern over the company's long-term future, the Guardian reports."The short-term selloff of Apple shares immediately after the announcement is driven by fears that Apple will not continue to perform as it has, once Steve Jobs leaves the CEO role," said Ovum chief analyst Jan Dawson. "However, these fears appear relatively unfounded at least in the short-term."Tim Cook, formerly COO and now CEO, has been in day-to-day charge of Apple not only since January, but during two previous periods when Steve Jobs's health prompted extended absences. On all three occasions, Steve Jobs was nevertheless involved in major decisions and continued to set strategy for the company. His new role as chairman suggests this will continue to be the case even if he does not sit at a desk in Cupertino for eight hours every day."Earlier this month, Apple briefly jumped ahead of oil and gas corporation Exxon Mobil to become the world's most valuable company. Tom Ivan