by , 4:40 PM EDT, May 23rd, 2007

Apple's growth will lead to the company being bigger than erstwhile foe and partner IBM, according to Georges Yared, CIO of Yared Investment Research, in a blog post he made at BloggingStocks.com. Mr. Yared said that Apple's growth, fueled by new products and control of the customer chain, will see the company's stock hit a market capitalization higher than that of IBM, a company that does more than four times as much business as Apple.

"The direction of both companies are at a variance to each other and Apple is certainly enjoying the strength of a major product cycle," wrote Mr. Yared. IBM, on the other hand, "is stuck in the phase of 3-4% top line growth, defending its turf from erstwhile competitors and few new products in its pipeline."

Higher margins, higher growth, a better product pipeline, and other positive factors at Apple will all be rewarded by Wall Street, he said, even if Apple never surpasses IBM in terms of revenue.

His conclusion based on these factors is that, "With top line and bottom line growth at 20%+, higher and sustainable operating margins, major new product cycle and a strong-controlled distribution system, I feel that Apple will hit the magical $200 billion market capitalization number before IBM does and IBM currently has a $50 billion+ lead in the race."

*In the interest of full disclosure, the author holds a small share in AAPL stock that was not an influence in the creation of this article.