Google at $1200 a share with a P/E of 33. Apple at $530 a share with a P/E of 13. I think those figures tell it all about which company is the most valuable and respected tech company on the planet.
YTD even Microsoft has outperformed Apple in share value by a huge amount. Apple's so-called value isn't worth anything on Wall Street. The company most likely to be doomed is still Apple, first and foremost. They can spin it any way they want but Google is considered a much more valuable company than Apple. Google is seen as going places in the future and Apple is seen as going nowhere. Having control over "the internet of things" is seen as having more value than "one new iPhone after another." Google is going up in value. Apple is going down in value. That's a fact.
The difference between Google and Apple is whereas Apple keeps what they're working on a secret, Google doesn't. Whereas Google releases products before they're ready, Apple doesn't. So Google is seen as moving at a quicker, more steady rate, because we get to see all the neat toys they're working on. Apple doesn't show us their toys until they've been perfected.
So really, Apple may or may not be ahead of Google. We can't know until they reveal and release their products this year. I'd be willing to bet that Apple is ahead, just because they have been in the past, but of course I could be wrong.
On another note entirely, I didn't realize I work for the ninth most valuable brand in the world.