In an emergency, tens of thousands of American consumers had to review their gift ideas. The Californian giant Apple, whose connected watches are generally sold out during the Christmas period, suspended sales of its last two Apple Watches (Series 9 and Ultra 2) in the United States on Sunday, December 24.
The decision comes at a bad time for the Apple brand, but it appears necessary. For several years, the American group has been entangled in an intellectual property conflict with another American biotech company, Masimo, around the oximeter technology (measurement of oxygen in the blood) integrated into its Apple Watches since 2020.
In October, after several court decisions already unfavorable to Apple, an order from the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) reinforced the threat weighing on Apple, imposing a ban on imports and sales on American soil. Apple Watch, produced in Asia.
Once adopted, this decision was referred to the Biden administration for review. The White House had 60 days to veto the decision, or on the contrary confirm it. As the deadline expires this Monday, December 25, Apple has decided to suspend its sales in a “preventive” manner and thus comply with the ITC’s decision. Sales have been suspended on the Apple website in the United States since December 21. Sales in Apple stores have been suspended since December 24.
Only the two most recent models are affected. The Apple Watch SE, which is not equipped with the oximeter, for example, remains available for sale. Models in stock at other Apple Watch resellers are also not affected, according to the 9to5Mac site. On the other hand, Apple Watch imports being blocked from December 25 in the United States, the replenishment of Apple Watch retailers could be impacted, explains this site.
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While Apple does not reveal the revenue generated by the Apple Watch, its “wearables” division posted revenue of $13.48 billion during the first quarter of 2023, which overlaps with the holiday season. This is a relatively important part of the Cupertino group. “Apple strongly disagrees with the order and is pursuing a series of legal and technical options to ensure that Apple Watch is available to customers,” the group maintains in a statement to 9to5Mac.
At the beginning of the 2010s, Apple would have established close relationships with the company Masimo with a view to collaborating around this oximeter technology. Masimo maintains that Tim Cooks’ group would have used this collaboration to obtain critical information on the technology, and would have also hired Masimo employees some time before the launch of the Apple Watch. The complaint filed before the ITC thus mentioned the violation of around a hundred patents, which Apple strongly disputes.
