Google Takes Wind Out of Data Center Criticisms

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG)
has been nothing if not an alternative-energy warrior, working tirelessly to use alternative and renewable sources of energy whenever possible – especially when it comes to its data centers, which have been notorious for using up large amounts of energy simple because those centers contain the servers that an online company must have online and functional 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Data centers in general have been criticized recently for their energy consumption, most notably in a New York Times piece. And that story has been criticized itself, and at the very least questioned by people like Rick Needham, who directs the energy and sustainability division of Google Inc. (NASDA:GOOG).

He said, “There was no distinction between smaller companies running their own server closet, which really isn’t very efficient, versus cloud service providers like Google. (Also,) there was really no mention about renewable energy (and) actually sourcing your power itself from a renewable source.”

Renewable energy has been a focal point for Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) for a few years now, and the company has been moving ahead with linking to wind power for energy sources at a couple of data centers. The most recent step for Google in this area is a 10-year deal with the Grand River Dam Authority in Oklahoma to provide 48 megawatts of wind-generated power to its data center in Mayes County, Okla. This power will come from a 300-megawatt wind farm currently being built just outside Oklahoma City and due to go online by the end of the year.

Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has done these wind deals before, but it had been an energy broker – paying utilities for the power, then selling wholesale onto the grid to replace the energy the company uses in its data centers. This recent deal, however, is the first for the company where it s getting energy directly from a utility. “We’ve been building very efficient data centers for a very very long time,” Needham said. “But efficiency is just one part of what we do.”

Alternative energy is expensive and takes significant investment, but Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) sees value in its investments.

Google Inc. Jumps To 5th Most Valuable US Company, Closing In On Microsoft

BY Moran Zhang

Google Inc (Nasdaq: GOOG) has jumped to the 5th biggest U.S. company by market capitalization from 10th place, where it was on July 14.

Google’s market cap has ballooned by more than $60 billion in that time period to roughly $245 billion. The Mountain View, Calif.-based company is just barely behind Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) at $251 billion and Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT) at $257 billion, according to data provided by the Bespoke Investment Group.

Another 5 percent gain for Google’s stock would make it the third-largest company in the U.S. just behind Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) at $644.59 billion and Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) at $424.25 billion.

While Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is now the most valuable company in the world and its stock is up about 65 percent year-to-date, it has shed a few percentage points from its all-time-high of $705.07 hit on Friday, after the recently released iPhone 5 missed sales expectations.

Meanwhile, counterpart Google set a new 52-week high during Tuesday’s trading session when it reached $764.89 per share. Google is trading at heights it hasn’t hit since November 2007.

Google, which generated $38 billion in revenue last year, has surged roughly 36 percent since mid-June, compared with the Dow Jones Industrial Average's roughly 7 percent gain and a 10 percent rise on the Nasdaq.

Google’s lucrative search advertising business, as well as its efforts to expand into display and mobile advertising, have helped the Internet behemoth maintain robust revenue growth.

Google, owner of the world's largest search engine, dominates the Internet search market with a 67 percent market share, while its Android dominates the smartphone landscape, owning 68 percent of the global market in the second quarter -- exactly four times the 17 percent share Apple's iPhones held. Google is expected to become the leader in the U.S. for display advertising this year, including banner ads, replacing Facebook Inc (Nasdaq:FB).

Citi analyst Mark Mahaney boosted his price target for Google to $850 from $740 on Monday, citing signs of growth in search advertising revenue and a particularly promising rise in mobile pay-per-click revenue. Deutsche Bank currently has a price target of $890 for Google.

In its next earnings report, due on Oct. 10, Google is expected to report its fastest sales growth in five years. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters predict sales growth of 59 percent, with earnings of $10.55 per share on sales of $11.95 billion.

Google's surging stock price comes about a year-and-a-half after co-founder Larry Page returned to the chief executive's role, replacing Eric Schmidt, who had the helm of the Internet company for the previous decade.

Page has attempted to pare Google down, sacrificing underperforming projects, bolstering its core businesses and, above all, trying to reorient the entire company behind a comprehensive social strategy.

Google traders are motivated by stocks new high

Call players flocked toward Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG - 751.60) on Tuesday, after the company announced plans to launch its Nexus 7 tablet in Japan -- news that may have helped push the stock to a new record high of $764.89. By the time yesterday's closing bell rang, 155,000 calls had crossed the tape, which was almost triple the security's average daily call volume.

Most popular proved to be the October 800 strike, where close to 13,600 calls were exchanged at a volume-weighted average price (VWAP) of $8.35 per contract. However, a significant portion of these options traded at or below the bid price, suggesting they were sold.

Open interest at this strike surged by 10,732 contracts overnight, pointing to the initiation of new positions. This option now holds peak call open interest of 18,911 contracts. Because these calls are currently out-of-the-money, some of Tuesday's traders may have been shareholders writing covered calls with the expectation that the equity will trek closer to the $800 mark (without moving above it) by front-month expiration and hope to generate some extra income on their stock positions. These covered-call players may feel this century mark could act as a ceiling in the short term.

GOOG has seen its fair share of call buying, as well, according to data from International Securities Exchange (ISE), Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). At last check, the security sports a 20-day call/put volume ratio of 1.28, confirming that calls bought to open have outpaced puts during the past four weeks.

iPhone 5 review: users complaints

By: Doug Gross CNN

Apple's iPhone 5 broke records over the weekend, selling more than 5 million units.

Most of those new owners, many of whom lined up at Apple stores and other retailers, are presumably happy with their new gadget, which has been praised for its bigger display screen, lighter and thinner form, and faster processor.

But, as with many new tech products, there have been glitches, too. As the new iPhones get road-tested, buyers have taken to the Web to complain about issues ranging from the fixable to the unfortunately final.

The doozy has been a spotty maps application. For the first time, Apple's latest operating system replaced rival Google's mapping service with its own. As many people got their first look at it with a new phone, they've found huge chunks of the world missing, or locations showing up in the wrong place. (Apple said the app is a work in progress and will be fixed.)

Plenty has been written about that issue. But other gripes have emerged as well. Some sound legitimate. And, given the hyper-intense nature of the tech world's "love-hate" relationship with their gadgets, a couple just sound downright silly.

After a few days of putting the new smartphone through its paces, here are five gripes people have with the iPhone 5.

1. Scratches

Apple prides itself on making products that aren't just functional but beautiful as well.

But users are reporting that after having their iPhone 5s for only days, or even hours, the sheen on the sleek, aluminum phone is getting scratched up.

Melissa Jenna Godsey at iFixIt.com posted a YouTube video of her 2-year-old daughter hitting and scratching the phone's aluminum rear case with a set of keys, creating visible scratches and dents. Similar scuffing of the iPhone 4S revealed little, if any, damage.

"I know this is kind of an extreme case, but she's not the strongest two-year-old," Godsey said. "And this all just happened, so I can only imagine what this is going to look like after a couple of weeks of solid use."

Answering an e-mail from a user, Phil Schiller, Apple senior vice president of worldwide marketing, downplayed the issue.

"Any aluminum product may scratch or chip with use, exposing its natural silver color," Schiller said in the e-mail, reported and verified by Apple-centric blog 9to5 Mac. "That is normal."

Translated on Twitter by PC Mag writer Sascha Segan: "Apple: iPhones Aren't Chipping, They're Just Shedding Their Skins To Become Beautiful Butterflies."

2. Lightning dock connector

The tech world is nothing if not full of change. But many longtime Apple users are irked at the company's decision to use a smaller connector port, called Lightning, on the iPhone 5 and new iPods. With one fell swoop, that meant both a need for new power cords and that the new products won't connect with older speaker systems, alarm clocks and other accessories.

The fix? A $29 adapter (which costs $39 if you want a new cable with it). And even then, the adapter doesn't support video or "audio out" for iPods.

"Day 3 of having the new iPhone and I already lost the power cord #thanksapple," wrote one Twitter user.

"It's time to gouge our customers for a ton more money," Disqus commenter dawsg4ever quipped.

A Lightning-to-USB cable costs $19 and, according to Apple's website, currently has a one- to two-week wait time to be shipped.

3. The phone's too light

We told you some of these are kind of weird.

One of Apple's selling points for the new phone is that it's the lightest smartphone ever.

One of the emerging complaints? That it's the lightest smartphone ever.

To some users, a phone without the usual heft feels suspiciously cheap, toylike. Gizmodo rounded up some of the gripes under the headline, "The Weirdest Thing People Hate About the iPhone 5."

Those, culled from Twitter, included these nuggets:

- "Can I be honest and say I wish the iPhone 5 was slightly thicker and heavier. Hate thin phones!"

- "Held the iPhone 5. Way too light for this spazz-attack. I need a heavier phone so I don't completely destroy it."

- "This new iPhone is way too light. I feel like its gonna just fly outta my hand with the slightest breeze #firstworldproblems"

4. Screen issues

OK ... there are 5 million new phones in the wild now, so inevitably there are going to be some lemons. It's hard to know how widespread it is, but a handful of problems with the phone's touchscreen are bubbling up, too.

One YouTube video shows what appear to be weird bubbles showing up on one part of the display screen when the user touches another.

Threads on the Macrumors site also were filling up with people who said their screens started flickering just hours after getting their new phone.

5. Leaking light

Phones aren't supposed to leak. But users on multiple forums are reporting that light from the screen appears to be showing through gaps around the iPhone 5's antenna and power button.

Boy Genius Report said it's happening on one of its phones and shows light streaming out of a small crack beneath the power button.

The report said the leak is only visible in low light. Users said Apple has been offering replacements.

Apple Inc. Alert: Samsung’s new Galaxy Note goes on sale.

The Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 5 is set to get competition - and it’s none other than from its bitter rival Samsung Electronics.

The Korean handset maker launched its new Galaxy Note 2 earlier in the day and expects that it sales will get off to a strong start, even surpassing that of the Apple phone.

The new Galaxy Note 2 will sell three times faster than the previous version of the Note, with more network carriers tying up with the handset maker, head of Samsung's mobile business, J K Shin told reporters in Seoul.

The device went on sale in 128 countries including South Korea on Wednesday.

Samsung is the world's largest seller of smartphones, having overtaken Nokia and Apple earlier this year.

A variety of galaxy devices are being offered, powered by Google's Android operating system. Last week on Friday Apple's new iPhone 5 went on sale and in three days a record 5 million phones were sold as consumers had pre-ordered the phone while thousands thronged Apple stores and other outlets to be among the first to get the phone.

The new Galaxy Note will be sold along with the Galaxy S smartphones that are bestsellers. The new Galaxy Note 2 was unveiled at a Berlin Electronics Fair in August, right after a federal court in San Jose had found it guilty of violating patents and copying Apple's devices.

Apple has sought a sales ban on a range of Samsung's devices in the United States and elsewhere. The case will be coming up for hearing later this year.

The new Galaxy Note has a 5.5 inch screen, has a faster processor and is equipped with a digital pen that recognises handwriting.

5 stocks Billionaires are crazy about - Insider Monkey

Apple Inc (AAPL) is the most popular stock among hedge funds and billionaires, and it is performing spectacularly. Despite Apple Inc’s successful performance hedge funds are underperforming the market third year in a row. The reason is simple. Equity hedge funds usually hedge around 50% of their long exposure. It just doesn’t make sense to compare them to the S&P 500 index which is 100% long.

The index is based on the 13F disclosures of billionaire hedge fund managers and prominent investors. It is composed of the 30 most popular stocks among billionaires and each stock’s weight is proportional to its popularity. We update the index around 50 days after the end of each quarter to give ourselves enough time to process the filings. I can hear you questioning whether there is any value in imitating hedge funds’ stock picks two months after they are known to be holding these stocks. Some may argue that they may have sold or even started to short these stocks during this two month delay. Technically it is possible but we don’t think it is probable.

Since the beginning of this year Insider Monkey’s Billionaire Hedge Fund Index returned 25.3% vs. a gain of 18% for the S&P 500 including dividends. Of course an average equity hedge fund didn’t return 25.3% so far this year because hedge funds aren’t usually 100% long and they charge hefty fees. Our index avoided these shortcomings and managed to beat the market by 7 percentage points despite using “stale” data.

1. Apple Inc. (AAPL, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Apple is the most popular stock among billionaire fund managers. More than 40% of the billionaires had a large position in Apple at the end of June. Apple is also the most popular stock among other hedge fund managers. Apple has been an obvious value play for a very long time. At the beginning of 2011 the market valued the stock as if it was a low growth utility stock. By the end of the summer of 2011, low growth utility stocks had even higher multiples than technology stocks like Apple Inc and Microsoft Corporation. Investing in Apple was really a no brainer. It is still very attractively priced despite returning 73.6% so far this year. Billionaires Ken Griffin, David Einhorn, and Stephen Mandel are extremely bullish about the stock.

 
2. Google Inc. (GOOG, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Google Inc is the second most popular stock among billionaire hedge fund managers. The stock gained 13.6% so far this year. We are optimistic about Google as well. The stock’s 2013 forward PE ratio is less than 15. It is slightly more expensive than Apple but the stock is the undisputed leader of the search business. It is expected to increase its earnings by nearly 20% per year over the next few years. We expect that Google will outperform the market over the next five years. Chase Coleman and Ken Fisher have large positions in Google.

 
3. Qualcomm Inc (QCOM, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Qualcomm is the third most popular stock among billionaire hedge fund managers. The stock returned 18.9% since the beginning of this year. Qualcomm is also a fast growing stock with relatively low earnings multiples. Qualcomm increased its revenues by 28% and its EPS by 19% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter in 2011. The company has a trailing PE ratio of 19. David Tepper and Leon Cooperman are bullish about the stock.

4. Microsoft Corporation (MSFT, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): Microsoft is the fourth popular stock among billionaire hedge fund managers. It should be clear to you by now that billionaires have been very bullish about tech stocks and they still are. Apple and Microsoft have been among the 5 most popular stocks for at least two years. The stock returned 22.6% since the end of 2011. Jim Simons, Ray Dalio and David Einhorn have been adding to their Microsoft holdings during the second quarter.

5. News Corp (NWSA, Earnings, Analysts, Financials): News Corp is the fifth most popular stock among billionaires. When several investors were selling News Corp at below $15 in the summer of 2011 after the scandal, billionaires started buying the stock. There are several positive developments for the stock this year. It is an election year and both candidates are fund raising machines. News Corp also announced that it will be splitting the company which is usually enough reason for hedge funds to initiate positions. This stock outperformed the market with a 41% return so far this year. Billionaires Dan Loeb, Paul Singer, and Stephen Mandel initiated brand new positions in the stock during the second quarter.

Hedge funds’ top 5 stock picks performed even better than the rest of their stock picks. These five stocks had an average return of 33.9%, beating the market by more than 15 percentage points. Our billionaire hedge fund managers became billionaires because of their stock picking ability. Their recent performance shows that they still have their magic touch.

Apple still is a Conservative Investor's Paradise.

Apple Inc is the most popular stock among billionaires. No company receives as much attention as Apple Inc, a fact that, in itself, is a cause for pause among investors. Despite the common sentiment that Apple dominates every segment that it occupies, some frontiers of the technology world are yet to be claimed decisively. Unclaimed territories are opportunities for growth, as well as defeat.

Apple is already choosing its battles and, in fact, does not need to win all of them. Unlike many potential growth bets, Apple does not need miracles in order to ascend into investment paradise. In our view, conservative investors should be interested in Apple just as much as growth investors, if not more interested. Why?

The iPhone is a margin beast. As we noted elsewhere, the iPhone is a 49 percent margin product, compared to 23 to 32 percent for the iPad; the iPhone is a dream product in that regard. The iPhone 5 sold 5 million units since its launch last Friday, but this was not as high as the most bullish estimates of 6 million to 10 million units. We are not very concerned about this alleged shortfall.

Merrill Lynch analyst Scott Craig, who has pegged a $850 price target on Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL), noted that supply limitations were the primary reason for the disappointment. When taking into account the September 29 second-wave roll out of the iPhone, Craig thinks that every 1 million iPhones sold translates into an additional $0.15 earnings per share.

Apple is number one in notebooks. Apple has the privilege of both jeopardizing the future for the notebook market with the iPad while, at the same time, monopolizing the notebook market. Sure, the company sold 17 million iPads in the second quarter, more than any other company sold of its entire lineup.

Aside from that, though, Apple’s notebook market share has increased to 68 percent from 62 percent last year. Additionally, Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) does a good job of giving its customers ways to connect tablet, mobile, and notebook devices, increasing the likelihood that consumers will want two or all three.

Sergey Brin, Claims Robotic Cars In 5 Years

By Joshua C. Rarrick

According to reports, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s cofounder, Sergey Brin, made some profound statements concerning not the future of search engines, but the future of the automotive industry. Brin made an announcement today that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), of all the companies in the world, will have robotic cars, which completely control themselves, within 5 years.

In his statement, he said, “You can count on one hand the number of years it will take before ordinary people can experience this.” This statement was made at a bill signing ceremony for SB 1298, which is a bill regulating the highway safety and performance for computer controlled cars on California’s public roadways.

This new bill aligns California with Nevada and Florida, which already have similar laws in place. It will allow a licensed driver to test the new car on public roads. There was some opposition regarding this bill, in its early stages. The opponents were afraid that it would not provide enough oversight into the development of the car, and that it didn’t truly guarantee the safety of the vehicle on the road. However, after discussing the matter, and making a few revisions, the bill did pass through the state Legislature.

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has already begun development of their robotic cars, and in fact, have a model on which they have acquired 300,000 miles of drive time. Brin said the company is still working to improve the sensors in the vehicle, and also to ramp up hardware failure support systems, to improve safety. He likened the vehicle’s operation to airplane flight, saying that it would be subject to similar equipment failures, which they were hoping to foresee and prevent from happening.

He says that equipment failure is part of a “long list of things humans have coped with in the past,” and seemed to be sure that Google would overcome its obstacles.

As if Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) didn’t have enough mountains to climb in its ongoing war with Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) in the tablet market, now it seems they wish to conquer the automobile market as well.

Ford, GM, and Chrysler are sure to take offense to this, as are many of the foreign automakers, such as Nissan and Toyota. Oh well, at least if Google offers in car navigation, you won’t get lost, as you might in an Apple designed vehicle.

iPhone 5 Received Mandatory Regulatory Certification In China

September 26, 2012. By Nicholas Maithya

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)’s iPhone 5 has received a mandatory regulatory certification in China, which mean that it can now sell in the Asian nation. This is a being step forward for Apple’s new device as it seeks to avail it in the country, which boasts nearly 1.5 billion people in population.

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) launched its iPhone 5 in 9 countries including China and Hong Kong, but had to postpone the deliveries of the product to the two nations owing to supply constraints. Nonetheless, October, the time when the device should be finally available in China, is almost here, and securing the regulatory certification is therefore a good milestone for iPhone 5 in China.

Reports indicate that two models of the new iPhone 5,  A1429 and A1442 received the certification on Sep. 24, 2012, which are set to expire in 5 years. The model A1429 corresponds to China Unicom’s WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) network, consistent with Hong Kong’s iPhone 5 version, while the model A1442 corresponds to the CDMA2000 (IMT-CDMA Multi-Carrier) telecommunications network.

It is also noted in a Chinese technology publication that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) may have submitted another separate model number for China Telecom’s CDMA2000 network, as the current A1429 iPhone 5 model does support it.

Elsewhere, another carrier network, China Unicom has revealed that as long as iPhone 5 gets regulatory approval, then the device will be available in its network within three months of launching.

China Compulsory Certification (3C) is a mandatory requirement that must be met be devices looking to retail in the country.

Apple Inc. Should Take On The TV Industry With iTV

By MARSHALL HARGRAVE
Published: September 25, 2012 at 4:37 pm

With the release of the iMac in 1998, the iPod in 2001, the iPhone in 2007, then the iPad in 2010, what’s next? iTV in 2013? Here is why we think this is a must for
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL).

There has long been speculation of an Apple TV, with recent suggestions that Apple could release something in 2013. The company has slowed R&D spending as a percentage of its revenue, decreasing from 3.1% in 2009 to 2.7% in 2010, then down to 2.2% in 2011. This could be because the company is growing revenue faster than it can find projects worthy of R&D capital, or it could be that the historically higher levels of R&D were going toward the development of the mysterious Apple TV, with a slowing R&D burn rate suggesting Apple is getting close.

The one hesitation that Apple may have is the margins of the TV industry. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) currently enjoys gross margins on its iPhone of 49%, iPad of 40% and computers of 24%; however, TV manufacturers’ gross margins average around 20%. The question then becomes does it make sense for Apple to build a full-blown TV or a product that will compliment current TVs?

Apple already revolutionized two key devices that most people use everyday: the personal computer and mobile phone. The company has introduced another device that has also become a big part of people’s lives: the tablet. The next big step for the company is changing another device that people use everyday: the television. Next to mobile devices, the television is one of the most widely owned and used devices. Over 99% of U.S. households have at least one television, with the average being over two TVs. The average time spent watching TV per day is over 5 hours, with 67% of people watching TV while eating dinner.

Like Apple’s other key devices that are an integral part of our lives, the TV makes the most sense for the next industry the company should reinvigorate. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) really does need another big catalyst to meet future growth expectations and the TV opportunity is too great. The company has grown earnings at a 73% CAGR for the last five years, mainly due to continuous innovation.

At a time when Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) continues to break earnings records, we cannot help but look to the future to see where Apple’s projected 5-year EPS growth of 23% will come from. Apple has seen tremendous demand for its new iPhone 5 and is setting record sales data, yet the stock typically falls on the slightest news of a bottleneck.

This is perhaps because the company has too much riding on its iPhone brand. Of Apple’s four key device categories, it derives the most revenue from mobile sales at 63%. Although tablets are still in their infancy stage relative to computers and phones, the tablet device will undoubtedly continue to eat into computer sales and be cannibalistic to Apple’s computer segment. An Apple TV could give the company a different dynamic.

The TV market is estimated to be worth about $23 billion. Granted this is below the computer industry’s size of $30 billion, which Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) owns 19% of the market share, but it presents some of the greatest potential for penetration. Unlike the computer and tablet industry that has a variety of products and unique differentiations, there is much less of this when it comes to TVs. Two companies with the largest market share in this industry are

Sony Corporation (NYSE:SNE)
and Panasonic Corporation (NYSE:PC).

Sony owns about 8.2% of the market, while Panasonic owns 5.2%.

Both of these companies have been flailing of late, mainly due to a saturation of the U.S. market and a faltering economy. Neither company has a measurable trailing P/E due to repeated negative earnings. Sony posted negative ADS of $0.31, versus $0.19 estimates for the most recent quarter. Sony trades at a forward P/E of 94. Panasonic saw a 6% decline in sales last quarter from the same quarter a year ago, and beat ADS estimates of $0.4 by posting $0.7. The company trades at a forward P/E of 8.3, but has a long road back from the negative $4.23 ADS it posted last fiscal year.

If Apple does go the route of developing a full-blown TV, it would indeed have an advantage over other companies that are infringing upon the TV industry with secondary devices. One of the companies making TV more interactive is Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

. Although Microsoft has no plans of manufacturing an actual TV, they are making it a more interactive device with its Xbox console. A new console, called Xbox 720 by the media, has been speculated to be ready for launch by Christmas 2013. Xbox so far has introduced motion control and partnerships with streaming video providers Netflix and Hulu. The company broke out of its sub-$30 trading pattern earlier this year, in part thanks to its new initiative to find new high-growth markets. Microsoft is expected to grow next year’s EPS at 10%, and trades at a discount to its peers with a 9 forward P/E.

It has been rumored that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) might be in the process of entering the television market as well. While Apple and Google compete in a couple different segments, Apple has long been in the hardware and device industry, and we believe Google should stick to its forte of advertising. We believe the company will have its hands full integrating the Motorola Mobility acquisition that it completed for $12.5 billion in May, which should prove beneficial to Google. The company trades at a trailing P/E of 23, versus a forward P/E of 15.

We believe that if Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) can put together even a complementary product for the TV, it can quickly generate a strong presence in this market. Regardless of what Apple does, whether they build their own TV or form strategic partnerships, the ability to tie in its other devices, such as the iPhone and iPad, could be monstrous for cross-selling.