By Nate Wolf
After a year of navigating strict new tariffs, it is perhaps fitting that the headlines impacting Apple stock this week have revolved around China and trade.
China's imports of foreign-branded mobile phones, including Apple's iPhone, rose 128% in November from the same month last year, according to a Reuters report published on Christmas, citing data from a government-affiliated research firm.
Overall phone shipments rose 1.9% in China, with shipments of foreign-branded phones rising to 6.93 million units, data from the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology showed.
Apple stock was up 0.1% in premarket trading Friday in what was a sleepy post-Christmas session.
Earlier in the week, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia denied a request by Masimo to block Apple Watch imports as part of Masimo's lawsuit against U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The temporary win was part of a years-long dispute with Masimo over whether Apple infringed on the company's blood-oxygen sensor patents.
Barron's has reached out to both Apple and Masimo for comment.
Last month, a jury in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California found that Apple infringed on one Masimo patent, and awarded Masimo $634 million in damages.
"This is a significant win in our ongoing efforts to protect our innovations and intellectual property, which is crucial to our ability to develop technology that benefits patients," Masimo said in a statement after the November verdict.
Meanwhile, the International Trade Commission is currently probing whether Apple's redesigned watches fall within a limited exclusion order issued in 2023 prohibiting the importation of infringing devices.
Apple shareholders will be hoping for a Santa Claus rally to close out the year. The stock has underperformed its mega-cap peers in 2025, rising 9% compared to a 25% gain for the Roundhill Magnificent Seven exchange-traded fund.
Apple shares jumped 0.5% on Christmas Eve, the first day of the rally period.
Write to Nate Wolf at nate.wolf@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 26, 2025 09:37 ET (14:37 GMT)
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