If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

LIFESTYLE

48% Think Apple Will Remain on Cutting Edge Despite Jobs’ Death

Most Americans hold a favorable opinion of Steve Jobs, Apple Computer’s co-founder and CEO who died last week, and nearly half think his company will remain a technological leader despite his passing.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 74% of American Adults hold at least a somewhat favorable opinion of Jobs, including 45% who share a Very Favorable one. Just nine percent (9%) view him somewhat or very unfavorably, with 16% more who are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

That’s up from 48% who held a favorable opinion of the Apple guru in January 2009 when health issues forced him to take a medical leave of absence.

Sixty-two percent (62%) of Americans say they or a member of their family now owns an Apple product such as an iPod, iPad or Mac computer. Among these adults, 84% view Jobs favorably, including 55% with a Very Favorable opinion.

Forty-eight percent (48%) of all Americans think despite Jobs’ death, Apple will remain a leading technology innovator. Only 28% believe the company will become just another big business. Twenty-four percent (24%) are not sure. That’s more confidence than adults expressed in the January 2009 survey when 41% said Apple would be okay if Jobs did not return; 14% thought the company was in trouble, and 44% weren’t sure.

Fifty-five percent (55%) of investors think Apple will keep going strong, compared to 40% of non-investors.

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 Adults was conducted on October 7-8, 2011 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Want to read more?

Become a Rasmussen Reader to read the article

Have an account?

Log In

Become a Reader

Subscribe

Rasmussen Reports is a media company specializing in the collection, publication and distribution of public opinion information.

We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

Some information, including the Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll and commentaries are available for free to the general public. Subscriptions are available for $4.95 a month or 34.95 a year that provide subscribers with exclusive access to more than 20 stories per week on upcoming elections, consumer confidence, and issues that affect us all. For those who are really into the numbers, Platinum Members can review demographic crosstabs and a full history of our data.

To learn more about our methodology, click here.