Vodafone New Zealand has emailed the following statement: "Vodafone New Zealand is deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Steve Jobs. His vision for Apple transformed computing world, the way we buy and listen to music and more recently the smartphone industry, overnight. Our thoughts go out to his family, friends and colleagues at Apple."

An obituary by Computerworld US reporter Agam Shah notes Jobs had been struggling with his health for several years after being diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer in 2004.

Early this year he took another, indefinite leave of absence to "focus on my health," as he put it, and on 24 August he announced his resignation as CEO, with chief operating officer Tim Cook taking over and Jobs elected board chairman, a position he held until his death.

Both Webb and Eyerman say that Apple's senior executive team has the company in good hands.