Apple (AAPL) is by far the most valuable tech company in the world. It wasn't too long ago that it and Microsoft (MSFT) were neck and neck, but the past few months have sealed it.

Apple's market value is now at $330.9 billion, about $102 billion higher than Microsoft's value. That's huge. The market cap of Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) is only $105 billion, writes MG Siegler at TechCrunch. "Apple is now worth an HP more than every other tech company," Siegler adds.

Apple and Microsoft both had market caps of about $227 billion in May, Siegler writes. But since then, Apple has gained more than $100 billion in value, while Microsoft has gained almost $2 billion. (Microsoft owns and publishes MSN Money.)

Microsoft's growth has been so slow, in fact, that it could end up getting passed by Google (GOOG) and perhaps even IBM (IBM), Siegler writes.

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Google shares have been on a huge run, and its market cap is now about $202 billion. IBM's value is in the same range.

Apple still hasn't grabbed the title of most valuable company. That belongs to Exxon Mobil (XOM), which at $83.10 a share is enjoying a market cap of $428.2 billion. So Apple needs to gain nearly $100 billion more to catch up.

But look at Exxon's one-year performance. As hot as Apple is, I think Exxon has a safe lead.