Apple Inc.
AAPL,
confirmed that it will no longer sell its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 as a preemptive move to comply with an upcoming U.S. import ban on the products’ blood-oxygen sensors.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Apple Watch sales halt:
When does the halt go into effect?
Apple said it will pause online sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 starting on Dec. 21, and at Apple retail locations after Dec. 24, taking a popular holiday gift off the shelves days before Christmas.
Apple has publicly disagreed with the ruling from the U.S. International Trade Commission that the tech giant violated medical-tech patents from a California-based company called Masimo
MASI,
“Apple strongly disagrees with the order and is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to ensure that Apple Watch is available to customers,” the company said in a statement.
Can you still buy the Apple Watch?
Yes, there are still a few days left to buy those two styles of watches from Apple before the halt goes into effect.
After then, consumers can still buy watches from non-Apple retailers like Walmart, Target and Best Buy. A Walmart
WMT,
spokesperson confirmed to MarketWatch that the company will still sell the impacted Apple watches because the commission’s ruling doesn’t impact retailers that already purchased inventory from Apple, as long as their inventory lasts.
Target
TGT,
and Best Buy
BBY,
did not immediately respond to MarketWatch’s requests for comment.
The price for the Apple Watch Series 9 was $399 when it first debuted in September, but some retailers have discounts for holiday shopping allowing consumers to potentially get it for less than that.
See also: How Google’s Pixel Watch 2 stacks up against the Apple Watch 9 and Samsung Galaxy Watch6
Do you need to rush to buy an Apple Watch?
It’s hard to say if you should rush to the Apple Store in the next few days to buy a smartwatch — particularly because it’s uncertain just how long the smartwatch patent dispute may drag on, analysts told MarketWatch.
“If you want something under the tree, I would encourage you to go out and get to the store,” said Mark Vena, CEO and principal analyst at SmarTech Research. He’s optimistic there’ll be some resolution to the dispute and that Apple will find a way to keep selling the watches.
“But I would not advise a consumer to panic and say, ‘Oh I have to buy this right now,’” he said.
Patrick Moorhead, CEO and chief analyst at Moor Insights and Strategy, had a different take.
“I would buy one now. There’s going to be a run on Apple Watches,” he said, adding that he went ahead and purchased one of the affected models Tuesday morning.
Will my watch still work if I already have one?
If you already have an Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2, don’t worry — the watches will still operate normally despite the sales ban. The blood-oxygen feature will also continue to operate normally as well, an Apple spokesperson confirmed.
In addition, Apple will still offer repairs and troubleshooting for the watches if customers have any malfunctioning issues with them, the company said.
See also: Apple is no longer the favorite stock for kids to trade. Here’s what they prefer.
The Biden administration has 60 days to overrule the USITC’s order.
Apple doesn’t provide sales data for its watch products, instead placing it in its larger wearable, home and accessories revenue bucket, which totaled $9.3 billion in the company’s latest fiscal quarter that ended on Sept. 30.
Shares of Apple Inc. rose 0.54% during Tuesday’s trading, and are up 51.57% in 2023 to date.
Hannah Erin Lang and Tomi Kilgore contributed.