Apple's shareholders grilled the companies Board of Directors Wednesday for answers about the health of Steve Jobs and the decision to discontinue Apple's presence at the annual Macworld Expo.

Steve Jobs' is currently on extended medical leave through the month of June and his absence at the meeting did not go unnoticed. With worries of shareholders being kept in the dark regarding Jobs' health and any possible plans for succession, board member Arthur Levinson explained that the group discloses information when it is considered both important and proper to do so. He added that succession plans come up regularly in talks.

Questions about Apple's decision to abandon Macworld Expo were fielded by Apple's chief operating officer, Tim Cook.  While the company has "very fond memories" of Macworld, he insisted that with the company's more than 250 retail stores, Apple provides the public "many, many Macworlds each week". Press events can be scheduled when the stores are not enough, Cook elaborated, commenting that the decision to leave Macworld had "nothing to do" with Apple disliking the event.

One of the final concerns that the shareholders had was the company's lack of professional first-party web design software. Apple's senior VP of product marketing, Phil Schiller, commented that the company does not want to try and fill every product niche available and that the company would not be producing such professional software in the forseeable future.

The meeting concluded with the attendees singing Happy Birthday to Steve Jobs who turned 54 the day before.

Via MacNN