Apple’s fight over Apple Watch patents could slow its health initiatives

The Blood Oxygen sensor on the back crystal of Apple Watch
Apple’s long-simmering patent headache over Apple Watch could slow the company’s rollout of new health features.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
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Its first major feature was heart rate monitoring in the Apple Watch… But the real inventive work that could change the game for both consumers and the company’s bottom-line are its litany of future features. The most significant is non-invasive glucose monitoring, which the company hopes to bring to market by the end of the decade after reaching major milestones in recent years. The company has hopes to roll out two other major health features as soon as this year: hypertension and sleep apnea detection.
Those features — like blood sugar checking — will require a combination of advanced new algorithms and upgraded sensors on the bottom of the Apple Watch. And that’s where things may get tricky for Apple. The Silicon Valley company is currently embroiled in a fight with Masimo over patents related to blood oxygen sensors.
The threat Masimo has unleashed on Apple is two-fold. With Masimo’s success, Apple may be far more vulnerable to litigation. And to roll out its sleep apnea feature, Apple is going to need that blood oxygen tech.

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MacDailyNews Take: The problem with Apple, sitting upon several Everests of cash, making Masimo an offer they simply cannot refuse is? Masimo doesn’t want to do a deal? Then Masimo’s BoD should be sued for not acting in the best interest of its shareholders.
Masimo is a publicly traded company (NASDAQ: MASI) with a market cap of $6.885 billion. While not an insignificant number to most, it is to Apple (which executed $77.55 billion in stock buybacks in fiscal 2023 alone). Launch a hostile takeover, own the patents, and be done with it.
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