Apple's $17bn smartwatch rescue mission: Tech giant races to avoid historic ban in the US

[CharlieH]

 

Apple has launched a $17 billion rescue mission to save its smartwatches from being banned in the US due to patent infringement claims.

Engineers will use the funds to adjust how devices' algorithms measure oxygen saturation and show data to users before the clock runs out on December 24.

That is when all Apple Stores in the US must stop selling the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models after an order by America's trade watchdog, which ruled the tech giant stole copyrighted tech.

 

The blood oxygen feature is the focus of a legal dispute involving Apple and California-based biotech company Masimo, which says Apple poached its staff and stole IP to use in its own devices. 

 

Apple will stop selling the watches on its website on Thursday and pull devices from its roughly 270 brick-and-mortar outlets by December 24. 

But customers who placed orders can collect them at stores before the deadline.

The move is expected to lose Apple around $200 million around the holiday season. 

The company's wearable industry is worth around $18 billion in revenue a year.

And if the White House does not veto the ban, Apple would have to wait until 2028 to begin sales because that is when Masimo's two patents expire. 

The company's retail locations have already been told to swap out signs for the wearable, promoting the device without showing images of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 - Apple's latest smartwatches that are the focus of the ban.

A report from Bloomberg revealed Apple's rescue mission, stating Apple could settle with Masimo, the Irving-based company that filed the suit, but the move is improbable.

 

FULL STORY

 

[george]

Can't Apple just remove the oxygen app from the watches?

[bamnutsak]

Idiots. Clear the IP FIRST. Or now pay Masimo whatever they want.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RR1o8EoW-Eg

 

The new iWatch is pretty impressive, including the bodily sensors/management features. The sleep-cycle display is really cool.