Apple to Halt Watch Sales as It Prepares to Comply With U.S. Import Ban
Biden administration review of federal trade ruling requiring a ban is set to end on Christmas Day
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Ugh. So, the U.S. International Trade Commission decided that Apple violated Masimo’s patent for blood oxygen detection technology, and gave the Biden administration 60 days starting in October to rule on it. By Christmas day, the administration will either uphold the ruling and the import ban it would impose, or not. And Apple is complying with the ban pre-emptively in case the ban is upheld? Why does this just affect U.S. sales and not all sales?
Also, based on Apple’s loosing history regarding patent infringement cases (or so it seems), I’m guessing the ban will remain.
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I’d hope, not seen any articles, that they’d moved on from that technology, so maybe only these specific models are affected… I’m still on version 5, but have been watch, so to speak, for a replacement… DW is holding out for BP tech, but I’m not seeing that, yet… Santa?
I’m holding out for glucose monitoring! It would be the only reason for me to buy a watch; I hate things on my hands/wrists.
JimA
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I wore watches all my working life, but stopped when I retired in '02… U Then the Apple watch cam e along, I resisted until the 5, but got hooked again… Fond a decent leather, magnetic band, ad here i am, watching the presentations, can’t justify the Ultra, but do appreciate the later models, mine doesn’t have the O2 monitoring, just Heart rate… So I’m ready…
I’ve a box of old watches, even a brand new Longines from a WE/LU work anniversary, but all the battery ones have dead batteries… One Casio is solar, so if I put it in the window it will charge up, but… All antiques, it seems…
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My current and probably last watch is a solar Citizen with an old fashioned dial face, minute marks, and three hands. My only complaint is that the date is hard to see, as it is way down in a deep hole, deep because the solar face has to be thick. I let my brother the engineer do all the research and testing, then when I saw his I just copied him.
The bit of irony is that I never wanted a smart watch, but I now wear an Oura ring that monitors me. I mainly like it because it tracks my sleep very well. I really like this graph. (Last night wasn’t the best.)
Spotted this tonight… Apnea & BP next year…
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There have been several back-and-forth court rulings in this David vs Goliath battle. Developing a medical device requires an approach different than the standard Apple R&D culture. There is room in the market for both an accurate medical-grade smartwatch and a more general-use smartwatch, and the best outcome for consumers is both companies continuing to improve this technology, preferably with a cross-licensing patent agreement.
=== links ===
I Tried the Newest Competitor to the Apple Watch and Learned I’m Dehydrated,February 24, 2023
“As a fitness novice, the Apple Watch was more approachable for my needs, but I could see my father, who is a heart patient, getting immeasurable value out of the Masimo W1.”
SpO2 ARMS Accuracy for RD SET® Sensors (70-100%): 1.5%
The five publications with 973 total patients that met the inclusion criteria all used the Apple Watch Series 6 and described 95% limits of agreement of +/- 2.7 to 5.9% spO2. However, outliers of up to 15% spO2 were reported.
Masimo Corp (MASI) Market Cap is about $6B.
US court upholds rulings for Apple in Masimo smartwatch patent fight, September 12, 2023
“The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed that the relevant parts of Masimo’s patents were invalid based on earlier publications that disclosed the same inventions. The patents are related to the use of light to measure biomarkers like heart rates and blood-oxygen levels. Masimo persuaded the Federal Circuit to reverse a Patent Office decision that canceled parts of one of the patents.”
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-court-upholds-rulings-apple-masimo-smartwatch-patent-fight-2023-09-12/
“Adjusted ARMS is 1.6% for the Masimo W1 and 4.6% for the Apple Watch”
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Apple 2023 sales were $383B, and so this reduction is only 0.1%. But that is in 1 week. I guess some people are not buying a new watch, because they are waiting for a more recent model release. Sales will probably catch up when there are new releases.
Apple loses latest bid to avert patent dispute that has halted online U.S. sales of 2 watch models
“Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives estimates Apple’s holiday-season sales will be reduced by $300 million and $400 million if the patent dispute results in the two watch models being pulled from the U.S. market during the final week of the year.”
A serious problem for the company, I wonder how the matter will be resolved.
The 4 participants on Mac Break Weekly spent about 15 minutes discussing it on this week’s show. The conversation starts at about 24:45.
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I hope Apple settles, unless Masimo is playing hardball. But Apple no doubt thinks it’s in the right here, and is known to exhaust all other options before settling.
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An Apple spokesperson said the company has appealed the ban to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington.
“We strongly disagree with the USITC decision and resulting exclusion order, and are taking all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible,” Apple said in a statement on Tuesday.
The ITC last week rejected Apple’s request to pause the ban during the appeal process and opposed Apple’s request for the Federal Circuit to halt the ban in a court filing on Tuesday.
A Masimo spokesperson called the ITC decision “a win for the integrity of the U.S. patent system, and ultimately American consumers.”
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Apple watches back on sale after appeal’s court stayed the halt ruling. At least for a while:
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I should jump on one, but I’m still looking for the rumored new features coming up next year, Another quandary…I’m still pretty content with my 5, but I’d like the O2 reading at hand/wrist…
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