Microsoft and Apple are in a see-saw like situation for past one month on who is bigger than the other. But, when it comes to their comparison with Indian firms, all the technology firms here, taken together, are not even half the size of either of the two global giants.

At the last count, Apple, maker of iPod music players, iPhone mobile phones and iPad notebooks, emerged winner with an 8-billion dollar lead over Microsoft, on whose Windows software most of the computers run across the world.

This is in terms of market capitalisation, the stock market valuation of the two companies. While Microsoft has enjoyed its top position as the world's most valuable technology firm for many years, about a month ago also, it has conceded this position to Apple for just a day.

But, Apple has again climbed back to the top slot and has been there for three consecutive days now, attaining a market cap of 234 billion dollars. Microsoft is ranked second with 226.11 billion dollars.

At the same time, Indian companies stand nowhere, even collectively, and there can be no comparison at all on individual levels.

The top 10 IT companies comprising the BSE IT index currently command a combined market cap of little over 100 billion dollars (Rs 4,76,530 crore). This is less than half of the marketcap of either Apple or Microsoft.

The most valued Indian IT firm Infosys has a market valuation of just 28.17 billion dollars (Rs 1,30,468.63 crore) as on May 28 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

While, another domestic IT firm Tata Consultancy Services (TCS)' market valuation is around 9.5 billion dollars (Rs 44,008.11 crore).

On Wednesday last week, Apple had surpassed Microsoft as the most valued technology entity with a market capitalisation of USD 222.12 billion. On that day, Microsoft's valuation touched USD 219.18 billion.

The emergence of Apple as the most valued technology firm also reflects the gradual shift of consumers to latest hand-held devices from the days of personal computers. Apple's products include iPhone, iPod and iPad.