As promised, Apple today stopped selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in its online store in the United States, with the devices pulled from sale just days ahead of when an Apple Watch import ban goes into effect. When attempting to purchase an Apple Watch Series 9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2 to the online store, the devices say “currently unavailable.” Apple has also removed refurbished Apple Watch Series 7 and Series 8 models from its website.
Apple on Monday said that it would need to pause sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 in order to comply with an International Trade Commission order preventing components related to the Apple Watch blood oxygen monitoring technology from being imported into the United States. The ITC made the ruling after deciding that the Apple Watch blood oxygen sensor violates patents owned by medical device company Masimo.
The Apple Watch is still available for purchase from Apple’s retail stores, but Apple will stop store sales after December 24. Sales will be paused only in the United States and only at Apple’s own retail locations. Third-party stores like Target, Walmart, and Best Buy can continue to sell the Apple Watch until supplies run out. Apple will be able to sell the Apple Watch SE, as it does not have a blood oxygen sensor.
Apple could reinstate sales if the White House vetoes the import ban, and it has until December 25 to review the order and decide whether to intervene. If the White House does not veto the import ban, Apple will not be able to sell the Apple Watch until it removes the infringing technology.
Apple is planning to appeal as soon as it can on December 26, and the company said it is “pursuing a range of legal and technical options” to get the Apple Watch models back on store shelves as soon as possible.
Apple believes that a software fix might be enough to mitigate the problem, and Apple engineers are adjusting how oxygen saturation is determined and how the data is provided to customers. Apple said that it is working to submit a workaround to US Customs to get the ban lifted, but it is unclear if a software fix will be sufficient because the patents in question pertain to the hardware.
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