New iPad hits China next week

Apple’s third-generation iPad, with its much admired retina display, is all set to hit the Chinese market next week.

A week tomorrow, in fact, as the launch date for the revamped slate is July 20th.

It’ll be available, just as elsewhere, in black and white, with Wi-Fi and a 3G option. The basic 16GB Wi-Fi model will retail at the equivalent of $499, running up to $829 for the 64GB iPad with 3G.

Apple notes that the fresh iPad will be available via the online store in China, or the usual Apple authorised resellers – and stores will be accepting reservations for the device on the Thursday, the day before its launch.

The iPad is available in many, many countries across the globe, so why has it taken so long to reach the massive market of China? Because of its name.

Or more specifically, a dispute with a company called Proview, which took legal action against Apple, as it claimed that it still owned the trademark of the iPad name over in the country – and a Chinese court agreed with the firm.

The whole dispute was pretty convoluted, but in the end, Apple decided to settle and bung Proview a large wad of cash last month, apparently to the tune of $60 million.

Apple will be hoping to start making that money back pretty sharpish, as the iPad is popular over in China, and the fancy new high resolution display has been driving considerable sales globally.