As part of its response to today's US Department of Justice lawsuit, Apple confirmed that it had at one point considered creating Apple Watch for Android. The company told me it spent three years working on bringing the Apple Watch to Android before ultimately abandoning the idea.
In its lawsuit, the Justice Department uses the Apple Watch as evidence of its claim that Apple is a monopoly.
Apple's smart watch – Apple Watch – is only compatible with iPhone. So, if Apple is able to push a user to buy an Apple Watch, it will become more expensive for that user to buy a different type of smartphone because it would require the user to ditch their expensive Apple Watch and buy a new smartwatch that is compatible with Android.
In response to the Justice Department's announcement, Apple confirmed for the first time that it was at one point considering Android support for the Apple Watch. After a three-year investigation, Apple said it had determined that it was not possible to release an Apple Watch with Android support due to technical limitations. So he abandoned this idea.
This is consistent with a previous report from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the 2023 report, Gurman detailed Apple's plans, including some “business considerations.” – on introducing support for Apple Watch in Android.
9to5Mac's Take
This is not Apple’ The fact that there is no equivalent to the Apple Watch on Android is to blame. Google bought Fitbit and still hasn't created anything good enough to entice Apple Watch users to switch.
More about the US lawsuit against Apple:
- The US sued Apple: the full text of the DOJ lawsuit can be read here
- Apple says DOJ 'threatens who we are' as it vows to 'vigorously defend' against iPhone antitrust suit
