Apple is now banned from selling its latest Apple Watches in the US
Apple is now banned from selling its latest Apple Watches in the US
The Apple Watch SE is still available, though.
Apple is now banned from selling its latest Apple Watches in the US::Apple can no longer sell the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Watch Series 9 in the US. The International Trade Commission issued an import ban on the devices that took effect on December 26th, 2023.
Ooh gotta love when they get a taste of their own poison. They've blocked import of so many devices resembling theirs or third party made spare parts to control the market and now it's coming around to bite them in the ass.
Except now it's because of a patent dispute instead of "because I said so!"
The ban only affects Apple stores in the US. That means customers can still get their hands on a Watch Series 9 or Watch Ultra 2 at Best Buy, Target, and other retailers while supplies last. Apple will also continue selling the Watch SE, as it doesn’t come with a blood oxygen sensor.
That seems a bit lax.
Well... That's actually probably fair as stated.
BestBuy etc don't sell Apple's products on commission, they bought them from Apple for a wholesale price, they've got them in a warehouse and on shelves right now on their dime, and the only way they make that money back is by selling them.
And the only way Apple makes money from a product being sold at Best Buy is that Best Buy will likely buy more stock to replace the stuff they sold, and they'll buy that from Apple.
So if it was banned everywhere it would be unfair to the retailers that already paid Apple for a product they now can't recoup, and it wouldn't impact Apple at all because they already made their money from Best Buy.
This way the retailers can get their money back, but can't get any more, which means only Apple is impacted.
The only other way that's semi-fair (but would be extreme) would be for Apple to be forced to do a recall or something and reimburse all the retailers the money they had already spent. Doable, and definitely more of a punishment for Apple, but a lot of extra work for everyone if the outcome of this is that Apple settles and then everyone can just go back to ordering more again.
What would be interesting to see would be to force apple to buy back the product at 100% the value they sold it for
The key phrase is "while supplies last". They can't import more, so third party resellers can only get rid of what they already have.
Blocking the retailers selling would punish the retailers not Apple. Anything that can address that like forcing a return/rebate gets a lot more complicated (what about consumers who already bought one?) and murky on authority (because now it's domestic trade, not international).
The fact that they seem to really have expected a Biden "pardon" is absolutely hilarious to me.
Really wonder what exactly Apple is planning/trying to do here. They have more than enough money to settle with Masimo - IMO it makes the most sense for them to just settle an amount for the existing watches, and redesign a new oxygen sensor module for the US market.
Kind of silly for them to expect some kind of special treatment ripping off another company's tech, when they themselves are hyper protective over copycats ripping them off
If they fold now, what message will it send to other companies that have patents that Apple infringes on?
Maybe the sales figures were less than expected and will use this as an excuse to the board.
Most likely didn't spent enough on
bribeslobbying.Apple should be forced to pay licensing fees for the products being sold until supplies last..
Obama did veto an ITC ban on Apple before but Masimo is an American company unlike Samsung.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
A statement (via CNBC) from the Office of US Trade Representative Katherine Tai said the agency “decided not to reverse the ITC’s [International Trade Commission] determination” after “careful consideration.”
The ITC issued the ban after finding that Apple infringed on blood oxygen saturation technology patented by a company called Masimo.
It also ordered Apple to stop selling any previously-imported devices with the infringed-upon tech.
While Apple attempted to block the decision while awaiting an appeal, the ITC denied Apple’s request, and the other chance of intervention was a veto from President Joe Biden, which didn't happen.
Apple will also continue selling the Watch SE, as it doesn’t come with a blood oxygen sensor.
But both of those methods might not be enough to satisfy the ITC, which is why Apple could always choose to settle with Masimo instead.
The original article contains 259 words, the summary contains 138 words. Saved 47%. I'm a bot and I'm open source!
Struck by the very thing they love to do.
Hey Siri…define “hoist with his own petard”
"The ban only affectrf Apple stores in the US." Top notch journalism. If only there was a way to easily see if there are typos in your text...
I'm an Apple fan but... yeah, they deserved this one.
And somehow it’s already been overturned
How badly do you have to screw up for the United States to crackdown on you as a private company?