Due to a patent dispute involving the blood oxygen sensors on the devices, Apple (AAPL) and medical technology company Masimo (MASI) have officially stopped selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 online in the US.
On Thursday at 3 p.m. ET, Apple ceased selling the smartwatches through its online stores. Both the Series 9 and Ultra 2 have no option to purchase them and are listed as unavailable at this time on their respective websites. On December 24, both online orders and in-store sales will come to an end.
Following a presidential review period that ends on December 25, Apple is required by the cease-and-desist and limited exclusion orders issued by the International Trade Commission (ITC) in October to cease importing the watches and selling them through its first-party stores.
Apple is pulling the watches ahead of schedule to make sure it is compliant in the event that the White House takes no , even though the Biden administration has the option to veto the directives.
It is still possible for independent merchants like Best Buy to carry the watches. Due to the Apple Watch SE's lack of a blood oxygen sensor, Apple will also be able to keep selling it.
Apple has three options to resolve the patent dispute: settling with Masimo, changing the hardware of the Apple Watch, or maybe even updating the wearables' software.
The US market is the most profitable for Apple. Even though the business can still sell Apple Watches outside of its nation of origin, doing so could cost it a significant portion of potential earnings.
The most popular smartwatch worldwide is the Apple Watch. In Q32023, 22% of all smartwatch shipments worldwide were made up of Apple Watches, according to Counterpoint Research. With 10% and 9% of the market share, respectively, Fire-Boltt of India and Huawei of China made the second and third best-selling timepieces.
One of Apple's best-selling accessory lines is the Watch series. In addition to providing the company with user lock-in by encouraging customers to remain within its product ecosystem, it also serves as a way to entice users to become subscribers to Apple Fitness+.
Apple does not provide sales figures for each of its watch models separately. Rather, the company counts the sales under its accessories, wearables, and home businesses.
In the company's fiscal year 2023, that division generated $39.8 billion in revenue, placing it as Apple's third-largest business after the iPhone ($200.6 billion) and services ($85.2 billion).
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