Apple in Trouble Over a Patent Case Which May Impact its Annual Sales

The Silicon Valley giant Apple seems to be in a bit of trouble. On Monday, the company announced that it would halt the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatch sales in the United States over a patent ruling. It implies that users won’t be able to purchase Apple flagship smartwatches online starting December 21 and at retail locations on Christmas Eve.

According to Bernstein Research, the Apple Watch accounts for almost $20 billion of the firm’s $383.29 billion in annual sales. Moreover, Counterpoint Research shows that Apple is the largest smartwatch seller globally and accounts for about a third of all smartwatch sales. It implies that the ban on the sale of Apple smartwatches may negatively impact the annual sales of the company.

A couple of months ago, Apple lost a patent case over the SpO2 technology (tech used to measure pulse rate) in its smartwatches used to detect people’s pulse rate, which became the reason for the pause in sales of watches. In October, the International Trade Commission found multiple Apple Watches to infringe on patents owned by Masimo, a medical technology company in Irvine, Calif.

To avoid a complete ban on sales, Apple had two months to forge a deal with Masimo to license its SpO2 technology, or it could have appealed to the US government to reverse the ITC verdict. However, the chief executive of Masimo, Joe Kiani, said in an interview that Apple had not engaged in licensing negotiations. Rather, Kiani said that Apple appealed to President Biden to veto the ITC ruling. While referring to the ITC, Kiani said,

They’re trying to make the agency look like it’s helping patent trolls.

On the other hand, in a statement, the Silicon Valley giant said, “Apple strongly disagrees with the order and is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to ensure that Apple Watch is available to customers.”

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