Apple asked Amazon to remove iPad from its Chinese retail site
Amazon pulls the tablet from its online Chinese Web site following a request by Apple, which claims Amazon is not an authorized reseller.
Amazon has yanked the iPad from its Chinese Web site following a grievance by Apple that the retail giant is not authorized to sell the tablet in China.
A search of Amazon.cn turned up cases and other accessories for Apple's
The move was initially thought by some to be related to Apple's feud with Proview Technology, a company that claims it owns the rights to the iPad brand name in China. Earlier this week Chinese officials removed iPads from a third-party reseller following Proview's complaints that Apple refuses to honor the trademark.
Proview had even been threatening to seek a ban of the import and export of the iPad in China. The company quickly reversed that position after Chinese customs authorities said such a ban would be difficult to implement because "many Chinese consumers love Apple products," Proview Chief Executive Yang Long-san told Reuters.
But citing "people with knowledge of the matter," The Wall Street Journal reported today that Apple asked Amazon to remove the iPad 2 from its online storefronts in China because those sites weren't authorized to sell it--not because of the Proview trademark dispute. Apple and Amazon have reportedly been working together over the past few weeks to remove the sales listings for the popular tablet.