Apple had to remove the oximetry (measuring oxygen levels in your blood) technology from its watches after a dispute with Masimo. The U.S. International Trade Commission ruled that Apple had infringed Masimo’s patents for this technology. Apple has been trying to find a workaround ever since that didn’t include settling with Masimo.
Kiani has also been a thorn in Apple’s side for years according to Gurman. The former CEO has been calling out Apple for various misdeeds for a long time and, as a result, has likely made Apple less willing to negotiate. Furthermore, Apple probably felt even more pressured recently when Masimo partnered with Google to bring its tech to Wear OS smartwatches.
Kiani’s resignation will most likely lead to an overhaul of how Masimo conducts business. We might see the company’s oximetry tech back in Apple Watch pretty soon if both entities can figure out a solution. This will be crucial because health tracking is one of the main reasons people buy smartwatches or wristbands nowadays, which means Apple has been losing out on potential customers.
It’s still not confirmed that Masimo’s oximetry tech will return to the Apple Watch, but it is a lot more likely now with Kiani gone. With poor sales of Vision Pro, being late to AI and the iPadOS 18 disaster, Apple cannot afford to fall behind in yet another product category.