Piper Jaffray: Verizon iPhone Not Expected To Slow Google's Android (GOOG)

Piper Jaffray is out with a report today expecting the Verizon VZ iPhone from Apple AAPL to have a negative impact on Google's GOOG Android platform, but not to derail the momentum of the mobile operating system. Piper Jaffray expects, “Android share will decline from 32% in December to 26-28% in March. iPhone share should increase from 16% to 20%. Beyond March, we continue to view Android and iPhone as the two OSes that matter in mobile (we estimate combined ~65% share long term) with Android controlling ~40% share and iPhone ~25%, with the other OS brands continuing to become less relevant over time.” Piper Jaffray maintains its $725 Price Target and Overweight rating. Shares of Google fell $4.15 in the premarket from Wednesday's close of $616.50.