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Fitness Band Ownership Up, But Purchase Intent Declines

Fitness band ownership among women, a key demographic for the product, is still rising, but purchase intent has slipped, according to Piper Jaffray’s sixth semiannual women’s survey. Piper Jaffray reported Wednesday that 21% of women surveyed own a fitness band, up from 18% in the fall survey. Meanwhile, 9% of women said they own a smartwatch, up from 8% in the fall. However, the intent to buy a fitness band in the next six months fell to 15% in the spring survey, from 19% in the fall. Intent to buy a smartwatch also dipped, falling to 10% in the spring survey from 13% last fall. “While ownership has improved, we did detect the first downtick in future spending intentions on the (fitness band) category,” Piper Jaffray analyst Erinn Murphy said in a report. “We could be approaching a saturation point with select brands.” Fitbit ( FIT ) remained the No. 1 preferred fitness band, with 77% mindshare, up from 68% six months ago. Garmin ( GRMN ) and Jawbone tied for second place, each with 5% share. Apple ( AAPL ) led the smartwatch category with 49% share, up from 42% six months ago. Fitbit jumped to the No. 2 spot after announcing its Fitbit Blaze smartwatch. It grabbed 20% mindshare, up 9% last fall. Samsung fell to third place with 14% share, down from 19% six months ago. Fitbit overtook Under Armour ( UA ) as the top fitness app provider in the spring survey. Fitbit garnered 29% mindshare in fitness apps, up from 18% last fall. Under Armour dropped to second place with 22% share vs. 27% last fall. Some 30% of women use a fitness app, down from 32% six months ago, the survey showed. For its latest survey, Piper Jaffray interviewed more than 1,000 U.S. women, with an average age of 49 and 73% with a household income of $35,000 to $80,000. RELATED: Apple Watch Shipments Slowed In Holiday Quarter . Fitbit Face-Plants After Giving Weak Q1 Guidance, User Numbers .  

Mobile Accessories Maker Zagg Disappoints With Q4 Earnings

Mobile device accessories maker Zagg ( ZAGG ) tumbled Wednesday after missing fourth-quarter sales and earnings targets. Zagg stock was down about 14%, near 9, in midday trading on the stock market today . The Salt Lake City-based company late Tuesday said it earned 18 cents a share on sales of $78.6 million in Q4. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for 24 cents a share on sales of $82.94 million. On a year-over-year basis, EPS tumbled 58%, and sales fell 23%. Best known for making InvisibleShield screen protectors, Zagg also makes tablet keyboards, smartphone cases, portable power devices and audio products. On March 3, Zagg completed its $100 million purchase of Mophie, a maker of battery cases and external power products for mobile devices. Zagg executives, in their earnings conference call late Tuesday, focused on full-year results. In 2015, Zagg’s sales rose 3% to $269.3 million, and EPS rose 59% to 54 cents. For 2016, Zagg expects sales of $460 million to $500 million. It sees $285 million to $305 million in sales from the legacy Zagg business and $210 million to $230 million coming from Mophie. On the call, Zagg CEO Randy Hales said the company’s new-product pipeline is the best in the company’s history. Upcoming offerings include new screen protectors, keyboards and audio products, he said. Zagg, however, was dealt a setback in screen protectors when Apple ( AAPL ) forged a partnership with rival Belkin in the category. Starting Feb. 9, Apple Store employees began offering to apply Belkin screen protectors on iPhone 6 and 6S series phones, MacRumors reported . “Real kudos to Belkin for having put something in there that captured the attention of Apple, and doing a good job rolling that out,” Hales said on the call. “We actually like it, because it increases awareness to the category, that people really need to protect these devices they are purchasing.” RELATED: Zagg Zigs To Find New Mobile Accessories Business .

Chinese ZTE Sanctions Over Iran Sales Could Hurt Apple Chipmakers

A new U.S. export ban against Chinese mobile gear maker ZTE related to its under-the-table sales to Iran could hurt  Apple ( AAPL ) chip suppliers Qualcomm ( QCOM ), Qorvo ( QRVO ) and Skyworks Solutions ( SWKS ), a Pacific Crest analyst wrote Wednesday. Regulators imposed the sanctions Tuesday, alleging that ZTE used four shell companies in China and Iran to “illicitly re-export controlled items to Iran in violation of U.S. export control laws.” The ban prohibits U.S. companies from selling to ZTE. Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi opposed the sanctions, saying that ZTE’s tech purchases support thousands of U.S. jobs, according to the AP. Chipmakers Cavium ( CAVM ), Integrated Device Technology ( IDTI ), Silicon Laboratories ( SLAB ) and Xilinx ( XLNX ) also sell to ZTE. “This approach will only hurt others without necessarily benefiting oneself,” Yi said at a new conference Tuesday. ZTE isn’t banned from selling products in the U.S. but cannot procure components from U.S. companies. U.S. firms can apply for an export license, but Pacific Crest analyst John Vinh sees the government unlikely to grant them. The development could shuffle the smartphone market. ZTE owns about 4% of the global smartphone market, Vinh wrote. Industry tracker IDC says that ZTE competes alongside Xiaomi and Huawei in the low-end to midrange smartphone market, vs. No. 1 smartphone vendor Samsung. Vinh expects short-term effects on chipmakers to be “negligible.” Longer term, he says that ZTE could lose share to Huawei, Ericsson ( ERIC ), Alcatel-Lucent ( ALU ), Nokia ( NOK ), Siemens ( SIEGY ), Xiaomi, Oppo and Lenovo. “Alternatively, ZTE could conform to the U.S. embargo list, which could result in sanctions being lifted,” he wrote. Xilinx is most at risk, with 3%-3.5% of total revenue stemming from sales to ZTE, Vinh estimates. Silicon Labs follows with 2%-2.5% of total revenue wrapped in ZTE sales. IDT, Qualcomm and Qorvo are each 2% tied to ZTE, Cavium 1%-2%, and about 1.5% of Skyworks’ sales stem from the Chinese smartphone maker. Wall Street largely yawned Wednesday, however. Midday on the stock market today , only Qualcomm stock was down, dipping a fraction. Cavium stock was up a fraction. Shares of Qorvo, Silicon Labs, Skyworks and Xilinx were all up more than 1%. Integrated Device Technology stock was up more than 2.5%.