Dec 19, 2023
Smartwatches
Speaker 1: Apple will pause sales of the Apple Watch Series nine and Apple Watch Ultra two as part of an ongoing legal dispute with Health Tech Company. Masimo, we don’t have all the answers and we don’t know exactly what’s going to happen, but if Apple does end up suspending sales of the Series nine and Ultra two in the US for a prolonged period of time, it would be a big deal because these watches are very important to Apple. They’re a big part of the company’s product strategy. And even though the Apple Watch SE is not impacted [00:00:30] by this ban, it’s really the series nine and the Ultra two where we see the latest technology from Apple and the Apple Watch over the last decade has become much more than just an iPhone companion. It really isn’t one of Apple’s most important products, and it’s even starting to have some influence on Apple’s other devices as well.
Speaker 1: One example where we’ve seen this recently is when it comes to the iPhone. If you remember last year, apple introduced a redesigned lock screen, and while there isn’t a direct correlation between that redesign [00:01:00] and the Apple Watch aesthetically, it does look pretty similar to the Apple Watch faces that we’ve been seeing for years. The same goes for the always on display, which arrived on the iPhone 14 Pro last year. And another big thing to keep in mind is that health is such an important area of focus for Apple and it has been for years, and the Apple Watch is a huge part of that. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook even said to CNBC in 2019 that he believes one of Apple’s greatest contributions to mankind [00:01:30] will be all about health. And of course, that tiny device that sits on your wrist is a big part of that.
Speaker 1: Now, as I mentioned, yes, the SE will still be available in the us but the Series nine and ultra two have a lot of the latest technology and the most up-to-date health sensors from Apple. So that means they have certain things that the SE doesn’t like. Temperature sensing, the ability to take an ECG from your wrist and things like that. And of course, blood oxygen detection, which is the very feature that’s at the heart of [00:02:00] this legal debate. So again, the series nine and ultra two are super important because they do kind of show how committed Apple is to health. It’s a big part of its mission to get better as a health tracking company in addition to just a technology company. And I do think these products have a lot of influence on Apple’s other devices and where the whole product lineup is going. So while we don’t know much, we don’t know what’s going to happen, I do think Apple is probably going to fight pretty hard to make sure [00:02:30] that these watches can be sold in the US moving forward. For more details, check out my story on cnet.