Customers looking to purchase Withings products from Apple's stores will not be able to find the health-related devices, as it looks like Apple has pulled them out.
Searches for Withings devices such as the Body Cardio Scale, the Wireless Blood Pressure Monitor, and the Smart Body Analyzer on Apple's online store reveals that the items are no longer listed for sale. Presumably, the products have also been taken down from Apple's physical retail stores all over the world.
Why Are Withings Products Being Pulled Out Of Apple Stores?
Health-related devices such as those being produced by Withings are great holiday gifts, so why would Apple take them down from its physical and online stores?
According to a Mac Rumors report, the reason behind the disappearance of Withings products in Apple stores is that the health device company is owned by Nokia, which purchased the accessory maker earlier this year for about $191 million. Withings has been integrated into the Digital Health unit of Nokia, which is led by former Withings CEO Cedric Hutchings.
As reported earlier this week, Apple and Nokia are once again engaged in a patent battle, and it does not make sense that Apple will continue helping sell Withings products when it would benefit a company with which it is currently trading lawsuits.
Apple And Nokia Patent Battle
Apple and Nokia settled a patent lawsuit back in 2011, wherein Nokia accused Apple of infringing on certain patents that it held. The patents come with fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms, known as FRAND, which allow other companies to use them without needing to pay excessive licensing fees due to the patents being widely used in the tech industry.
Despite the patents coming with FRAND terms, Apple eventually relented and agreed to pay a one-time fee to Nokia, along with future royalties. However, it seems that the history between Apple and Nokia will not end there.
In the new patent battle between the two companies, Apple filed lawsuits against nine Nokia-aligned patent assertion entities, which are at times called patent trolls. Apple claims that the nine PAEs are working to have Apple pay out as much money as possible through exorbitant licensing requirements for patents that should have FRAND terms.
In response, Nokia has filed five lawsuits against Apple for 32 counts of patent infringement.
It could not yet be determined how this latest legal battle will play out, but Nokia is already said to be suffering from it. Shares for the company fell by almost 5 percent after the lawsuits were reported, as analysts are concerned that the legal battle with Apple will only delay the royalty payments that the company needs to maintain its profits.
