Steve Jobs returns to Apple

Steve Jobs is back at his desk

Apple chief executive and co-founder Steve Jobs has officially returned to his position following a six-month medical absence.

The company said that Jobs will be splitting his time between working from his office at Apple's headquarters and his home.

Jobs had been away from the company since taking medical leave in January to address a health issue. Described as a "hormone imbalance", the condition was believed to be responsible for Jobs's noticeable weight loss in 2007 and 2008.

The Apple co-founder's health has been a topic of discussion since he revealed that he had undergone treatment for pancreatic cancer in 2003. Before Jobs took his leave from the company in January, some began to speculate that the cancer had returned, a rumour which Jobs denied.

In the time since Jobs began his leave, Apple has released several major product updates under the leadership of chief operating officer Tim Cook and marketing vice president Philip Schiller who had taken Jobs's place as keynote speaker for the Macworld and WWDC conferences.

Over that stretch, the company released new notebook models along with a major update to the iPhone software coinciding with the release of the new iPhone 3GS handset model.

Speculation heated up in recent weeks when a quote from the Apple chief appeared on the company's news release about the one millionth iPhone 3GS unit sold. Several reports also claimed that Jobs had been spotted at Apple headquarters in recent weeks.

Though he has been absent from company headquarters, Jobs has not been out of the news. Earlier this month news surfaced that Jobs had undergone a liver transplant this spring. The transplant claim was later confirmed by a hospital in Tennessee.