Microsoft Will Lose a War With Apple; So Will Google

Apple fights this phantom battle with one hand tied behind its back. It does not farm its OS out to the world. Imagine if, tomorrow, Apple said to all hardware producers, you can have iOS. Android's market share would plummet. And no tech geek can tell me otherwise.

Put Microsoft on Research in Motion (RIMM)-watch.

The only thing that keeps me from saying the same about Google is that, in many ways, the company does beat to its own drummer. It dominates search and does a nice job diversifying what is, for all intents and purposes, its sole revenue stream -- advertising.

That said, when Apple stumbles, as it did with "MappleGate," and when it falls, don't blame Google or Microsoft. It will not have been either company's fault.

At the time of publication, the author held no positions in any of the stocks mentioned in this article.

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This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.

Rocco Pendola is a private investor with nearly 20 years experience in various forms of media, ranging from radio to print. His work has appeared in academic journals as well as dozens of online and offline publications. He uses his broad experience to help inform his coverage of the stock market, primarily in the technology, Internet and new media spaces. He has taken a long-term approach to investing, focusing on dividend-paying stocks, since he opened his first account as a teenager. Pendola, 37, is based in Santa Monica, Calif., where he lives with his wife and child.

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