Google Inc. (GOOG) Will Be the Next Apple Inc. (AAPL)?

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As Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) stock passed the never-before-reached $800-per-share milestone Tuesday, there has been some comparisons mentioned between Google at $800 and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) when it hit 700 a share last fall. Kevin Landis, CEO of Firsthand Technology Funds, which owns significant stakes in both companies, took to CNBC Tuesday to discuss Google and where it might be going from here, now that it’s achieved an all-time high.

“It certainly is interesting to watch,” Landis said. “Anytime you see a stock reach an all-time high, you have the good feelings and all that. But really, the question you have to ask yourself is, What has Google done the last few years to make itself worth more? And I think it all comes down to Android. In the mobile handset space it is pretty much down to a two-horse race, that being Apple and Android.”

Google Inc (GOOG)When asked about beig able to monetize Android, which Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has not been able to reach full potential with, Landis said, “If you look back Google three, five, seven years ago, it was this amazing cash cow from paid search, and then it had all these experiments – Google Earth, Google Mail and everything else. They knew they had the luxury of trying a lot of new things to see what would work. At this point it’s Android and iOS, and everyone knows that at some point they’re going to make some money on this. You can’t quite weigh it just yet, but this is Coke and Pepsi now, so it’s a question now of how much and when, not if.”

Landis said that Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) likely wouldn’t be here without the work of Samsung in the smartphone space. “Right now they owe a great deal to their ‘frenemy,’ Samsung,” he said. “HTC has really stumbled, but Samsung has taken off and it is pretty much the standard-bearer for Android right now. Samsung is really making great phones and it is giving Apple a run for its money.”

And what about the talk of Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) establishing a chain of retail stores, like Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) have done in the past?

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