Apple halts sales of Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 on its U.S. website
Apple Watch Series 6 and later models feature a Blood Oxygen sensor and app to conveniently measure the oxygen saturation of blood so users can better understand their overall fitness and wellness.
Apple has stopped selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 smartwatches on its U.S. website. “Following December 24, 2023, Apple no longer sells Apple Watch units in the United States with the ability to measure blood oxygen,” according to Apple’s product pages.
Apple’s website for the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 said “currently unavailable” when viewed Thursday. The page now features a promotional image for the Apple Watch SE, a lower-cost model first introduced in 2022 that is unaffected by the patent dispute.
Apple said earlier this week that it would stop selling its latest Watch models on its website on Thursday and in Apple stores starting after Sunday. The Apple Watch SE is still available from Apple and retailers will be able to sell the latest models while they still have stock.
The pause in sales is in response to orders from the International Trade Commission in October that found that the device’s blood oxygen sensor had infringed on intellectual property from Masimo, a medical technology company that sells to hospitals. Apple will be prevented from importing the devices, which are manufactured in China.
The pause means Apple is not selling the latest models of one of its most important products in its largest market during the busiest time of the year for Apple sales.
MacDailyNews Take: Actually, for all but the very worse procrastinators, all of the Apple Watches for Christmas have already been sold, so this sales pause is really not a major issue during a dead week of sales. Apple does, of course, need to rectify a situation that competent management would already have addressed well prior to any sales ban, as soon as possible in 2024.
If the ITC ruling is not vetoed, and a hardware change is required, expect Apple to pay up and settle this imbroglio with an offer that Masimo cannot refuse. – MacDailyNews, December 19, 2023
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