Apple has announced that the new iPad, the 2012 3rd-gen iPad, will be released in China next week, on Friday July 20th. From their press release yesterday:

Apple® today announced the new iPad®, the third generation of its category defining mobile device, will arrive in China on Friday, July 20. … The new iPad Wi-Fi models will be available in black or white for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model and $699 (US) for the 64GB model. The iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular models will be available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. In China the new iPad will be available through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), select Apple Authorized Resellers and by reservation from Apple retail stores. Reservation requests will be accepted daily from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. beginning Thursday, July 19 for pick up the following day. Additionally, iPad 2 is available at a more affordable price starting at just $399 (US).

There are already predictions of massive iPad sales in Apple’s last financial quarter that ended June 30. Getting the latest iPad into China’s massive market should give quite a nice boost to this current quarter.

I know we have some readers in China – let us know in the comments if you are planning to get a new iPad when they launch next week.

Image Source: The image at the top of this post is courtesy of Apple Insider, from back when the original iPad launched in Beijing.