Google (GOOG) is beating Apple (AAPL) senseless in the stock market if not yet the marketplace. Unencumbered by leadership questions or shareholder lawsuits, Google shares have gained nearly 12% so far in 2013 compared to a grim 17% decline for shares of Apple. The trend has traders wondering if "long Google, short Apple" is the new version of "long Apple, short Google" as a tech hedge core position.
Despite recently hitting an all-time Brian Sozzi of NBG Productions thinks shares of Google still have room to run higher. In the attached clip Sozzi waxes euphoric of Google "showing a little leg" with clunky $1,500 glasses and the prospect of a self-driving car. Even if these products are a long way from becoming anything more than niche products, what we've seen so far beats Apple's Kremlin-style approach to releases.
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In a sense Google is benefiting from the skepticism that plagued Apple at the beginning of the century. Google stores would seem preposterous if Apple hadn't already proven retail success is possible for tech centered companies. It's now GOOG that gets the benefit of the doubt for innovation and is seemingly immune to shareholder outcry despite the founders having almost total control of the organization.
Google glasses may look and seem absurd now but Sozzi says they are "a product that is going to set the stage for many other interesting products." For the moment, at least, the same cannot be said of iPhones or iPads.
