back and already threatened with a new withdrawal in the United States

This is one of the soap operas of this end of year in the United States: after its withdrawal from sale on Monday, the Apple Watch is back on the shelves but Apple’s connected watch risks disappearing again in about two weeks.

After three days of absence, the Apple Watch has been back on the Apple Online Store since Thursday as well as in the Apple brand’s 273 stores in the United States. This resumption of sales is linked to the appeal filed by the company, which suspends the ban on the importation of these connected watches until at least January 15. During this period, the manufacturer must find a solution to respect the patents attributed to Masimo (American company specializing in medical devices) which concern the measurement of the oxygen level in the blood: this function in fact exists on Apple Watches – except the SE model – for just over three years.

January 15, 2024: new deadline

Concretely, Apple urgently developed a software update which is now in the hands of the American Customs service for evaluation. But measuring the oxygen level also relies on sensors on the back of the Apple Watch. And only a new version of the watch expected in September 2024 will be able to modify them. Sales could therefore cease again after January 15.

The thorn in Apple’s side are these patents attributed to Masimo. However, the two companies could have worked together. This is also what Masimo managers thought when Apple approached them in early 2013. We are then a year and a half before the launch of the very first Apple Watch. But no partnership ever saw the light of day.

On the other hand, the project caused at least one joint meeting which made it possible to identify the bridgeheads at Masimo, including 20 engineers poached over the following months. Among them, one of the holders of key technologies: the Brazilian Marcelo Lamego. Apple made him a first offer which he declined. But internally, at Masimo, his promotion was refused.

A deal would be worth billions of dollars

He then wrote directly to Tim Cook promising to make Apple No. 1 in the field of health and well-being. He was hired in January 2014 but never fit the mold, asking for millions of dollars in budget, demanding to recruit his own teams, he was fired 7 months later.

How much would a deal with Masimo now cost Apple? It all depends on how much Masimo would charge Apple for the license. Four generations of Apple Watch include blood oxygen level measurement. The license would apply retroactively to the 150 to 200 million Apple Watches – except the SE model – sold since fall 2020. We are therefore undoubtedly talking about several billion dollars to which will be added, at a minimum, the three billion dollars already claimed by Masimo in damages.