Apple will pause sales of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the United States starting December 21 on their website and from retail locations after December 24 following an ITC ruling. The tech giant stated it is “preemptively taking steps to comply” should a ruling hold from the U.S. ITC over the patent dispute.
As per the statement from Apple: “A Presidential Review Period is in progress regarding an order from the U.S. International Trade Commission on a technical intellectual property dispute pertaining to Apple Watch devices containing the Blood Oxygen feature. While the review period will not end until December 25, Apple is preemptively taking steps to comply should the ruling stand. It includes pausing Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 sales from Apple.com starting December 21 and from Apple retail locations after December 24.”
For context, the ITC ruling came as part of a long-running patent dispute between Apple and medical technology company Masimo, with the commission announcing its judgement in October, discovering that Apple Watch’s blood oxygen sensor infringes on two Masimo patents, covering five different instances of patent infringements. With the presidential review slated to end on December 25, Apple had no choice but to pull its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from shops this week.
How Did the Battle Between Apple and Masimo Start?
The history between the two companies dates back to a decade before, in 2013, when Masimo alleged that Apple was engaging with them to discuss a potential partnership. However, what transpired was Masimo claiming Apple had poached its workers and technology, with the tech giant replying that Masimo was just one of the many medical-technology companies it met and denied any partnership with Masimo.
Thus, the bad blood grew between the two, and the boiling point tipped over in 2020 when Masimo filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the tech giant of stealing trade secrets and infringing upon 10 of its patents. The situation escalated in 2021 when Masimo filed a complaint with the U.S. ITC, arguing that the United States should ban importing the Apple Watch Series 6 due to the court’s slow pace.
With the International Trade Commission (ITS) in the fray, the ITC discovered that Apple infringed on only two patents, covering five different instances of patent infringements instead of the 103 occurrences Masimo accused the tech giant of. Therefore, the ITS imposed the current ruling in October by banning the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, with Apple having the chance to appeal through a Presidential Review Period set to expire on December 25. However, the Biden administration and the White House have chosen not to act and have not vetoed the decision from the ITC.
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The Aftermath of Apple’s Removal of Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2
According to Counterpoint Research, Apple’s smartwatches are the world’s best-selling smartwatches, capturing 22% of global market share as of quarter 3 of 2023. Therefore, with their decision to remove the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, the tech giant anticipates that the ITC’s decision will harm Apple’s suppliers and consumers and could have an even larger impact on the broader economy.
Based on the reports of Yahoo Finance, Apple’s share fell nearly 1% after the company said it would halt sales of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, and it could get worse in the coming days. On the other hand, ABI Research Director David McQueen said the decision to continue watch sales until December 24 will help reduce the economic impact of the holidays and give buyers a few days to purchase their devices before Christmas.
“While Apple is the lead player in the sector with around a 24% market share, it may not actually affect its business too much if it can boost sales in these final few days, assuming there is available stock. It may be able to ride out the holiday season without too much of an impact on sales.”
Apple Is Reportedly Making Changes to its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2
In the latest updates, Bloomberg stated that Apple engineers are “racing to make changes to algorithms on the device that measure a user’s blood oxygen level as Apple hopes that it can change how the Apple Watch “determines oxygen saturation and presents the data to customers.” It is a drastic engineering effort we had not seen from the tech giant before.
An Apple spokeswoman confirmed the reports from Bloomberg, highlighting that Apple is working around the clock on submitting a workaround to the U.S. customs agency, which is in charge of approving changes to get a product back on the market.”
However, it may be for nought as Masimo claimed that a software fix is inadequate and would require a total hardware change in the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
Will People in the United States Be Able to Purchase the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2?
Currently, people living in the United States can still purchase the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from third-party retailers like Best Buy until December 24. In addition, Apple has stated that it will do its utmost to pursue a range of legal and technical options to ensure that the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are available to customers in the U.S. if there are no remarks from the Presidential Review Period.
As its email mentioned: “Apple strongly disagrees with the order and is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to ensure that Apple Watch is available to customers. Should the order stand, Apple will continue to take all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible.”
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