iPhone v Microsoft

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Microsoft v. Apple

Microsoft's dominance as the tech industry's most valuable player has ended.

In Tuesday trading, Apple's market capitalization edged past its longtime rival's as investors made official what consumers have long suggested: Microsoft isn't the industry's alpha dog any longer.

While just last month, Microsoft's market cap exceeded that of Apple by about $25 billion, the companies are now neck and neck, with Apple in the lead by a mere $2.9 billion...

"Wall Street believes in Apple because Apple continues to put out new products that capture the imaginations of the press and tech pundits," said Rosoff. "Microsoft just hasn't been able to come up with a new multi billion dollar business like Apple."

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Bush Declares War on Google

The Justice Department has quietly hired one of the nation's best-known litigators, former Walt Disney Co. vice chairman Sanford Litvack, for a possible antitrust challenge to Google Inc.'s growing power in advertising.

Mr. Litvack's hiring is the strongest signal yet that the U.S. is preparing to take court action against Google and its search-advertising deal with Yahoo Inc. The two companies combined would account for more than 80% of U.S. online-search ads...

Microsoft also has objected to the deal, saying it would unfairly foreclose competition on the Web. In Senate hearings in July, Microsoft's general counsel, Brad Smith, testified that "if search is the gateway to the Internet, and most people believe that it is, this deal will put Google in position to own that gateway and the information that flows through it."

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Yahoo Says "No" to Microsoft

Yahoo Inc., formally rejecting a $45 billion unsolicited bid from Microsoft Corp., said Monday that the offer is not in the best interest of shareholders.

"The board believes that Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500)'s proposal substantially undervalues Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500), including our global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms and future growth prospects, free cash flow and earnings potential, as well as our substantial unconsolidated investments," said the statement.

The rejection was not a surprise and had been expected by investors since late last week. Some believe this is part of an effort by Yahoo to get a higher sales price from Microsoft. While the offer represented a large premium from the recent pre-offer price, it only represented the price level seen for Yahoo stock in November.

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Will Google Pass Microsoft?

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