NEW YORK - APPLE'S share price was pummeled on Wall Street on Wednesday after the company said its iconic chief executive Steve Jobs will not appear at the Macworld Expo next month.

The surprise announcement late Tuesday by the maker of the iPod, iPhone and Macintosh computers sparked speculation that Jobs may be ailing or that Apple does not have any new products to present at the annual event in San Francisco.

Apple's share price lost 6.57 per cent in New York on Wednesday to close at US$89.16 (S$128).

'Whenever a cancellation like this occurs, there is a negative reaction in the stock, regardless of the reason,' he wrote.

Another analyst, Douglas McIntyre, said Mr Jobs, who has fought a bout against pancreatic cancer in the past, may simply have decided to skip MacwWorld because he has 'nothing spectacular to debut'.

'Since he never shows up in public without a new blockbuster product, he may be dodging the show because he has nothing to show there,' he wrote on 247wallst.com.

Apple also announced that the upcoming MacWorld would be the company's final appearance at the trade show, which brings together Macintosh computer devotees, developers and innovators pitching Macintosh-related products.

Since the first Macworld was held in San Francisco in 1985, Jobs had used his keynotes to unveil world-captivating products such as the iPod.

Apple downplayed its decision to pull out of Macworld, saying that its popular real-world and online stores have made it easy to connect with fans without having to spend money on an expo.

In recent years Apple has stopped going to similar expos in New York, Tokyo and Paris.

Analysts said Apple's practice of using the Macworld stage to announce innovative products put pressure on the company to have hip, new things to launch every January.

That is an unsustainable position for a company to be in given product development and production cycles, said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley. -- AFP