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Apple slides on rumor about No. 2 executive


    SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Shares of Apple Inc dropped more than 2 percent in early trading onTuesday, as rumors swirled that the company's No. 2 executive was departing.

    It was not immediately clear what caused APPLE (AAPL.NQ)s shares to fall, but unconfirmed speculation on the Internet said Tim Cook would leave Apple to join Hewlett-Packard Co , which is searching for a new CEO to replace Mark Hurd.

    Representatives from Apple and Hewlett-Packard declined to comment, and analysts quickly dismissed the rumor. HP is holding its analyst meeting later Tuesday.

    Cook, Apple's highly regarded chief operating officer, is widely seen as the heir apparent to Steve Jobs at Apple.

    BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis said he doubted Cook was headed to HP.

    "We don't expect that to happen. Whatever Tim would want to achieve at HP he could achieve at Apple. Steve jobs will not be CEO forever. He's on a short list," Gillis said.

    Apple's shares recovered slightly and were down about 1 percent, or $2.81, at $288.38 in late morning trading, while HP stock rose 35 cents, or 0.84 percent, to $41.61.

    (Reporting by Gabriel Madway, Sinead Carew and Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)