El Jobso addresses corporate minions

IF THERE'S ONE THING that Steve Jobs cares about, it's money. So while the firm is legendary for its appalling customer service when it comes to acknowledging faults in early hardware, this week has seen a missive from El Jobso quieting fears about its stock price.

Since December, Apple's stock has tumbled from almost $200 to $130, after rising from that point back in July after the launch of the Iphone.

In an internal email to Apple staff and investors, obtained by the shady folks at Apple Insider , Jobs says that it has been "a remarkable last few days... our stock is being buffeted around by factors a lot larger than ourselves."

He goes on to include a graph of stock prices that shows that despite the fall, Apple has still grown by 100% since the beginning of 2006, whereas Microsoft has barely shifted 25%, Google 50% and HP and Dell both seeing their stock flat.

This will not do much to appease investors, who will be fuming at the firm's inability to live up to its own hype. Apple's biggest problem in the face of market analysts is its disappointing Iphone sales.

Apple is back up by a couple of dollars in early trading, but even Steve has to feel the pain - he is the largest individual shareholder in the company.

"Hang in there," he concludes. µ