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News-wise, it's been a big weekend for Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL).
First came reports that its ailing CEO, Steve Jobs, recently underwent liver-transplant surgery.
On the heels of that news, the world learned that sales 
of the new iPhone 3G S have passed the 1-million mark.
Whether investors remain confident in Apple's strength despite Jobs' illness remains to be seen.
Steve Jobs' ill health has been no secret, but whether he actually got a new liver is so far unconfirmed. The Wall Street Journal says he did, but the paper doesn't say how it got that information.
The Cult of Mac blog has run a photo of a 7,500-square-foot mansion in Memphis, Tenn., that blog editor Leander Kahney claims Jobs bought after receiving his liver transplant in a hospital in the city in March.
Apple did not respond to MacNewsWorld's requests for comment by press time.
The Cult Of Secrecy
Apple has never commented on Jobs' health and has always maintained it is a private issue.
It's certainly possible that Jobs did indeed receive a liver transplant, although The Wall Street Journal's story does not cite any sources, which is unusual.
Jobs was considering a liver transplant as a result of complications after treatment for pancreatic cancer in 2004, Bloomberg reported in January. However, it did not quote anyone who had actually treated Jobs.
"There's a lot of thinking that the source must be someone fairly unimpeachable and yet someone for whom it would be very embarrassing to have their identity known," Carl Howe, an analyst at the Yankee Group, told MacNewsWorld.
The Sound of Silence
Regardless of its accuracy, the news about Jobs' liver transplant has kicked off speculation that there's a tug-of-war going on behind the scenes in the boardroom.
Some believe a board member leaked the information because it's important to the public.
Could this be a continuation of previous disagreements over whether or not to make full disclosure?
Apple waited nine months before announcing Jobs had pancreatic cancer in 2004. During that time, members of the board were reportedly divided over whether or not to make a public announcement about his health.
Some felt he had a duty as the CEO of a public company to make a public disclosure.
Silence Isn't Always Golden
Apple's cult of secrecy has hurt it in the past.
Last October, an 18-year-old posted a bogus news story on iReport.com, CNN's user-generated news site, claiming Jobs had a heart attack. The story sent Apple's share prices falling from US$106.50 to $94.65, costing the company $9 billion in market value. It also triggered an SEC investigation.
Investors leaped on the story; when Jobs announced the iPhone 3G in June of that year, he had looked very pale and thin, kicking off a whirlwind of speculation that his pancreatic cancer had resurfaced.
Apple's response at the time? Jobs was suffering from a common bug.
In January, Jobs said he was suffering from a hormone imbalance.
It doesn't matter what Apple did, so long as the market likes its products, said Gartner (NYSE: IT) distinguished analyst Martin Reynolds.
"Whatever criticism we may have about the way they have handled things, it all turned out well," he told MacNewsWorld.
It's All Good
Turned out well, indeed -- over the weekend, Apple reported sales of more than 1 million units of its new iPhone 3G S, far exceeding expectations.
"Customers are voting and the iPhone is winning," Jobs said in a statement.
The demand is no surprise, said Julien Blin, principal analyst and CEO of JBBResearch. "Apple has the momentum, and regardless of the challenge of the macro-economic environment, people will do whatever it takes to get the latest iPhone," he told MacNewsWorld.
That strong demand points to a strong management team that can continue to run Apple whether or not Jobs returns to work at the company.
"Steve Jobs is the public face of the company, but it's actually run by a team of folks," the Yankee Group's Howe said. "This was a game plan that was put together long before Steve had medical problems."
Shares of Apple stood at $137.28 at 2:01 p.m. ET, down $2.20 or 1.58 percent from the previous day's close of $139.48.
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