Has Apple blown it? Did the company squander the competitive chance of a lifetime?

I know Apple (AAPL) is an investor darling trading near an all-time high.

And I know the company’s products have tremendous consumer cache. So much so that the company is able to sell its iPhones and iMacs for prices well above those charged by competitors.

But it still looks to me that Apple has missed its chance. It had a limited window of opportunity when competitors such as Microsoft (MSFT) couldn’t do anything right and it didn’t turn that opening into a big enough share of the personal computer market. It was first to market with a game-changing smart phone but the company has pursued a high-end niche strategy with the iPhone that has left the door wide open for Google (GOOG) to grab for the mass market.

If this is as good as it gets for Apple, the company has no one to blame, finally, but itself. The opportunity was there and Apple didn’t exploit it as ruthlessly and as relentlessly as it needed to.

Here’s my basic problem with Apple’s strategy and execution: The company didn’t kick ‘em hard enough when they were down.

Apple and Google go head to head in China’s mobile phone market

Ladies and gentlemen. In this corner, wearing the Macintosh red trunks, Apple (AAPL) and its partner China Unicom(CHU)

In the other corner, wearing the Chrome trunks, Google (GOOG) and its partner China Mobile (CHL).

That’s the lineup that’s about to cross gloves in China’s smartphone market later this year, according to The Financial Times.

Apple is days, weeks, months away from signing an exclusive, three-year deal with China Unicom, the country’s No. 2 wireless operator, for its iPhone.

Google is about to launch a line of smartphones based on its Android operating system with China Mobile, the country’s biggest wireless operator.

At stake is not just China’s wireless market but momentum in the global battle over smartphones.

Buy Microsoft MSFT: This is as bad as it gets

Nothing like shooting yourself in the foot while the global economy is pushing you toward a cliff.

That’s the pretty picture that Microsoft (MSFT) painted when it reported fiscal fourth quarter earnings on July 23.

And that’s exactly why I’m buying shares of Microsoft for Jubak’s Picks with this post. If you’ve been waiting to see when this classic growth stock would become a value stock, well, the moment has arrived.