On December 18th, it was reported that due to a long-standing patent dispute with pulse oximeter company Masimo, Apple plans to discontinue the sale of the Apple Watch S9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 smartwatches in the United States.
Apple's official statement mentioned that sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 will be suspended on the Apple website starting from December 21st. Starting from December 24th, sales of the Apple Watch Ultra 2 will be suspended in Apple retail stores.
The reporter noticed that on October 26th this year, the International Trade Commission (ITC) made a ruling on a patent dispute over blood oxygen sensor technology between Apple and Masimo: that Apple's Apple Watch, which includes blood oxygen measurement function, infringed on Masimo's pulse oximeter patent. However, before the import ban takes effect, the Biden administration will have 60 days to decide whether to veto the ban based on policy considerations. And the president rarely vetoed bans in the past. At that time, Apple stated that it would appeal this ruling and did not acknowledge its claim of infringement.
Although President Biden still has one week to decide whether to veto the ITC's ruling, Apple has chosen a preemptive measure to comply with the committee's decision during its validity period. However, Apple emphasized that the ITC ban has only affected the sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, as only these two devices offer controversial blood oxygen monitoring functionality, and low-end Apple Watch SEs without such sensors have not been affected and can still be sold.
The Apple Watch Ultra 2 was launched by Apple in September this year and is equipped with the S9 SiP chip, priced at 6499 yuan (RMB). According to the Apple store, it is "the largest and brightest display screen on the Apple Watch to date." The Apple Watch Series 9 starts at 2999 yuan.
Apple's financial report data shows that in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2023 (as of September 30), sales of wearable devices, home furnishings, and accessories, including Apple Watch and AirPods, were $9.322 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 3.4%. Revenue accounted for 10.4% of the total revenue in the fourth quarter.