Some Apple Watches have experienced unexpected sales changes in the United States.
According to Interface News, on the evening of December 18th Beijing time, Apple announced in a statement to the media that it will stop selling two smartwatch products, the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2, in the United States later this week.
Starting from 3pm Eastern Time on December 21st, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 will no longer be available for purchase from Apple's US official website, and the inventory of these two products in Apple retail stores will no longer be restocked after they are sold out on December 24th.
As of the close of the US stock market on December 18th local time, Apple was trading at $195.89, a decrease of 0.85%, with a market value of $3.0 trillion.
What happened behind this? Apple has suspended the sale of some of its Apple Watch due to a patent dispute between Apple and medical device company Masimo. In October 2013, the International Trade Commission (ITC) of the United States ruled that two Apple Watch watches infringed on Masimo's partial blood oxygen sensor patent, and therefore demanded that Apple "stop and terminate" the import and sale of Apple watches with blood oxygen detection capabilities.
Masimo sued Apple for the first time in 2020, claiming that the Apple Watch had infringed 10 patents and was also suspected of stealing trade secrets by hiring key personnel. Subsequently, Masimo filed another lawsuit in 2021, stating that the Apple Watch Series 6 should be banned from sale as the device infringed on five patents related to blood oxygen measurement technology.
In response, Apple has also filed a counterclaim against Masimo. In October 2022, Apple accused Masimo's W1 series smartwatches of infringing on multiple Apple patents. Apple stated that it was in the previous lawsuit that Masimo "carefully studied Apple's intellectual property" and obtained confidential information.
This case is not yet concluded and still needs to be submitted to the Biden administration for a 60 day presidential review before the dust can be settled. The deadline for the review is December 25th, before which Apple is required to comply with ITC's decision to suspend the sale of two watches and wait for the final result.
According to China Fund News, President Biden has the power to veto this ruling during this process, although it has not yet occurred. The presidential review period will expire on December 25th, and Apple announced today that this news is to take preventive measures to comply with ITC's decision.
Apple stated that the ITC ban only affects the sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, as these devices provide blood oxygen monitoring functionality. The low-end Apple Watch SE without this sensor will not be affected and will continue to be sold. The ITC ban only applies to new sales of affected Apple Watch models.
The following is a complete statement released by Apple:
A US International Trade Commission order regarding a technical intellectual property dispute involving the blood oxygen function of Apple Watch devices is currently under presidential review. Although the review period did not end until December 25th, Apple is taking preventive measures to comply with the ruling, including suspending sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 on Apple.com starting from December 21st, and suspending sales in Apple retail stores starting from December 24th.
Apple's team is tirelessly committed to creating products and services with industry-leading health, fitness, and safety features. Apple strongly opposes this order and is seeking a series of legal and technical measures to ensure that the Apple Watch remains available to customers.
If this command is executed, Apple will continue to take all measures to restore sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the United States as soon as possible.
For many years, there have been multiple legal disputes between medical technology company Masimo and Apple. The focus of the controversy lies in Masimo's accusation that Apple Watch's blood oxygen sensor technology has infringed on multiple of its patents.
Apple emphasized that today's announcement and the upcoming suspension of Apple Watch sales are a precautionary measure taken by the company to comply with the ruling if it takes effect.
Apple announced that it will appeal the ruling of the US ITC regarding the patent technology for Apple Watch's blood oxygen sensor.
Apple believes that ITC's decision will cause harm to Apple's suppliers and consumers, potentially leading to a greater impact on the overall economy.
Apple stated that Masimo is attempting to use this lawsuit to drive the launch of its own smartwatch product. If ITC's decision is upheld, Apple stated that Masimo itself will not see substantial benefits because Masimo smartwatches cannot replace Apple Watch.
Daily Economic News Comprehensive Self Interface News, China Fund News, Public Information, etc