Apple To Sell iPad In ChinaApple To Sell iPad In China

Apple plans to start offering the Wi-Fi capable version of the iPad in China on Friday. Apple on Monday said the tablet-style computer would be sold through the company's retail stores and "select" Apple-authorized resellers. The company said it roll out the iPad in "many more countries" later in the year.

Apple plans to sell the 16 GB version of the Wi-Fi-capable model in China for about $590, the 32 GB model for about $708 and the 64 GB version for about $827. Apple sells the 16 GB iPad for $499 in the United States. Apple did not say whether it would offer the 3G version of the iPad in China. Network operator China Unicom has said it is in negotiations with Apple to offer the iPad, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Fake iPads, many of them running Google's Android operating system, have been available through China's black market. Apple fans wanting the real thing have had to rely on smuggled iPads, which sell from $700 for 16 GB Wi-Fi edition to $960 for the 16 GB 3G version. Fake Apple products on China's black market have been a problem for the company for quite awhile. Before the iPad, Apple battled the proliferation of copycat iPhones.

To take away the incentive for people to buy fake iPads, Apple has cut down the lag time between the U.S. launch and the China debut. The iPhone was available for about two years elsewhere before debuting in China. As a result, a big market for fakes and smuggled iPhones developed.

Apple released the iPad in early April and sold 3.3 million units by the end of June, according to the company. The iPad's success has jumpstarted the market for tablet computers. A number of computer makers have released tablets, or plan to release them soon, including Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Samsung, Acer and others.

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