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CUPERTINO (Reuters) – Apple Inc shareholders rejected demands that the consort divulge a activity organisation for ailing honcho Steve Jobs, and the consort kept incommunicative on how some had hardback that proposal.

The disinclination to expose info of the balloting on a offering by the Central Laborers' Pension Fund upraised reflection that a sizable obligate of shareholders haw hit based it, and prompted an related assemble to near for more disclosure.

"It appears probable that a large sort of long-term, institutional shareholders voted in its favor," the Laborers' International Union of North America said in a evidence following the meeting.

The fate of Apple, among the world's most powerful profession companies, is equal to how the iPhone and iPad concern handles the eventual departure of its iconic co-founder and leader. Jobs in Jan took a ordinal scrutiny yield for unknown reasons, with some not expecting him to convey to advance the consort he supported in 1976.

But, in a thin show of activism for a assemble of investors often noesis with Apple's sizzling growth and lofty deal price, shareholders authorised a offering gift them a bigger feature in appointing directors -- against the company's recommendation they react the proposal. About 74 proportionality of votes cast favored a offering by Calpers that unopposed candidates for the company's commission receive a eld of votes to get election, according to the fund.

The balloting provided digit of the some moments of drama at an circumstance not attended by Jobs, who is out on indecisive scrutiny leave.

Tim Cook, Jobs' crowning lieutenant, took the prominence instead. Clad casually in jeans and a sweater, he appeared rattling much in command and deftly fielded questions on topics from Apple's $60 1000000000 change money to ontogeny rivalry from the likes of Google Inc in mobile and revenue-sharing on the iPad.

Cook presented a predictably chromatic photograph of Apple and its fortunes, noting opportunities in smartphone, paper and PC markets and the untapped possibleness among playing customers.

Apple shares ended 1.2 proportionality higher at $342.62 on Nasdaq.

SHAREHOLDERS' VOICE HEARD

Calpers, the maximal U.S. grant fund, is calling on 58 companies to take eld kinda than plurality voting which allows unopposed directors to be elected easily. The $226 1000000000 money varnished Wednesday's termination as a victory for transparency and investor interests.

"It was rattling important that shareowners spoke, and crosspiece with conviction," Calpers senior portfolio manager Anne doc told Reuters after the vote. "The communication was loud and clear."

Even with Jobs sidelined, shareholders voted down a offering to summary a organisation for who module succeed the intellectual chief. And not digit investor asked most Jobs or his health, in an manifest clew of their ontogeny certainty in the chief bench.

"I'm rattling impressed by Tim Cook," said Kirk DeBernardi, who has owned Apple shares for nearly a decade. "Shareholders become in with a destined amount of attitude for Steve Jobs, that's why they don't become in and batsman management with questions."

Influential investor advisory concern Institutional Shareholder Services had tangled its weight behindhand a investor offering to obligate Apple to divulge a activity plan.

"At least in the near constituent investors hit nothing to gripe about. Despite hang most the activity plan, it's performed in distinction with the market," said Rodman & Renshaw shrink Ashok Kumar. "If the stock underperformed, then I conceive institutions crapper obligate the assistance of management or the board, but in this case ..., they hit rattling lowercase bargaining power."

Some investors hit urged the consort to attain better use of its cash, whether via buybacks or dividends.

Chief Financial Officer saint Oppenheimer told shareholders that Apple wants to retain its change so that it crapper "very quickly take advantage of a strategic possibleness that would become along. And we're constantly ownership our eyes open."

COMPELLING DRAMA

Jobs relic on the minds of some people. He announced in Jan he would travel away from the helm on scrutiny leave, though he relic participating in strategic decision-making.

His epilepsy comes at a crucial time. Apple is engaged in a battle in the smartphone mart with Google, whose Android operative system was installed on more devices than Apple's for the first instance in 2010.

But Apple's destiny has been intimately equal to Jobs, a mercurial and charismatic cheater who rescued the machine concern from near-death in 1996 after a 12-year epilepsy from the consort he co-founded.

Cook, an dealings expert, is control the consort for the ordinal instance in seven years. He is thoughtful the recipient manifest at Apple. The consort dominates the fledging paper machine mart it helped create with the iPad.

But it module play a sort of challenges this year.

Apple sent invitations to a primary circumstance on March 2. The consort is widely due to inform a new, thinner iPad at the event.

The consort module also launch the fifth process of its favourite iPhone as rivals from Motorola Mobility to Samsung Electronics administer pressure.

U.S. and dweller regulators are scrutinizing newborn Apple rules that provide the consort a revilement of publishers' subscription income generated by applications for the iPhone and iPad.

"Steve Jobs is an exceptional individual. It's ever feat to be difficult to replace him," said ThinkEquity shrink Rajesh Ghai. "He's been much a grave conception of Apple for the past 10-15 years. It's unthinkable at this point in instance that someone crapper provide the aforementioned category of leadership."

(Editing by Edwin Chan, Kenneth Li, Derek Caney, Steve Orlofsky and Richard Chang)

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