In a preemptive move, Apple will stop selling the Galaxy Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 in the USA beginning December 21 due to a looming ban caused by a patent dispute with medical technology company Masimo.
According to analysts at J.P. Morgan (via Apple Insider), banning the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 could cause a decline of $5 billion in sales.
Although it sounds like a lot, this $5 billion decline would represent only around 1% of Apple's total annual sales.
The Watch ban affects only the USA
Apple will stop selling the Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 starting later this week, but only in the United States. Apple will continue selling all of its smartwatches in other markets around the world.
It should be noted that Apple decided to stop selling the two smartwatches preemptively, but there still is a chance the Biden administration could veto the ruling before December 25. This would allow Apple to continue selling its smartwatches unhindered.
There's also the possibility that Apple will address the patent dispute by disabling the problematic blood oxygen scanning features through firmware updates.
If the ban applies, it will be very interesting to see how this will shift the balance of power between Samsung and Apple in the wearable market across the USA, and whether Samsung will benefit from higher smartwatch sales during the holiday shopping season and into Q1 2024.
Image Credit: Apple
