Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) To Introduce Latest iPad in China On July 20

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) To Introduce Latest iPad in China On July 20

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) yesterday said that the company will start selling the newest version of the iPad in China on July 20, working to expand its lead in the tablet market by courting new business in the world’s most populous nation, after paying $60 million to settle a dispute over the ownership of the tablet computer’s name.

The company said it bought the global rights to the iPad name from Shenzhen Proview Technology in 2009, but Chinese authorities said the rights in China were never transferred. A Chinese court ruled in December that Proview still owned the name in China and the company asked Chinese authorities to seize iPads.

The company yesterday said in a statement that the new iPad, which went on sale in the U.S. in March, will cost in between $499 to $829, depending on the amount of memory and the iPad’s connection compatibility. It features a sharper screen and a faster processing chip than the previous two iPad models. Apple will also cut the price of the older iPad 2 to $399.

The tablet computers will be sold online, at Apple stores, and through approved resellers.

China has become Apple’s second-biggest market after the U.S., mainly due to rising wages give Chinese citizens more disposable income to spend on iPhones, iPads and Mac computers. China accounted for $7.9 billion of the company’s $39.2 billion sales which the company reported in the fiscal second quarter, which ended March 31. That was more than triple the company’s sales in the country a year earlier.

Apple, the world’s largest company by market value, will report third-quarter results on July 24, 2012. The shares declined 0.30% to $606.40 in the after hour trading.