By Chris Chang, posted Feb 15, 2012 at 7:11 AM, 2,436 views,

Apple Orders Amazon China to Stop Selling iPad, Proview Lawyer Is Surprised

Have no doubt about this: Amazon China withdrew Apple’s iPad and stop the sale of the tablet from 14th February night in the country. According to an Amazon China spokesman, the withdrawal is on the notice of Apple and also it’s the adjustment on its sales strategy…

UPDATE: Reuters now reports that Apple asked Amazon in China to stop selling iPads because it is not an authorized reseller, according to an Apple spokeswoman. Amazon has since removed iPads offered by other resellers on its Chinese website as well.

Currently, if you do a search for ‘iPad’ or ‘iPad 2’ on Amazon China’s website, it will bring up a series of accessories for the tablet, or tablets from other companies.

Interestingly, we came across some screenshots of both the iPad and iPad 2 listed on Amazon China, but the price and ‘purchase’ button are removed.

Meanwhile, Apple has not made any comments on the issue, and Apple’s staffs in China refuse to reply too. However, as confessed by the lawyer of Proview, Proview did not apply for the administrative ban on the online sale of iPad in Beijing where Amazon China is located; also he has no idea about Apple’s demand for the iPad withdrawal from Amazon China.

Guess what, another online retailer, Sunning, have also removed the iPad from their catalogues in China.

Meanwhile, other players in the B2C e-commerce space in China such as Alibaba’s Tmall.com, 360buy, and Dangdang, still have iPads for sale (see here, here and here), so does Apple’s online store in China and Apple’s retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai.

With the heating dispute on iPad trademark between Apple and Proview, there have been more than 20 local industry and commerce administrations got involved in the investigation around China, with the device has been seized already in some regions. In the meantime, we may see more retailers delist the iPad online or remove it from their shelves in retail outlets. However, here’s one thing we’ve noticed about the sudden stop sale of iPad on Amazon China’s website. It could be Apple’s strategy to compete in the dispute, also by which to alert Proview that the trademark owned by it could be less valuable shall Apple changed the name of iPad. What do you think? Feel free to share your wisdom in the comments below.

Source: Sina Tech