On December 18th, Apple abruptly announced its plans to pull the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 from store shelves starting on December 24th. The move comes in response to an import ban handed down by the US International Trade Commission, which ruled Apple infringed on patents for pulse oximetry tech made by Masimo in October.
This means Apple can no longer import and sell the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US — at least for the time being. The iPhone maker is already trying to come up with a solution to avoid the ban, but it might take a while until the dispute is completely resolved.
