A Chinese company that produces a tablet PC very comparable to the iPad, could possibly sue Apple over a similar design between the devices, it announced today, according to PC World.
Shenzhen Great Loong Brother Industrial had started selling its P88 tablet last year and would not rule out a lawsuit against Apple, a company rep who was surnamed Wu said by phone.
The company has its base in a southern Chinese city which is known for producing knock-off phones, also known as "shanzhai," or "bandit" phones, which have sometimes taken the form of fraudulent iPhones or other popular handsets. "For this thing we are not shangzhai, because we were first," said Wu.
The P88 does weigh more than the iPad and has a remarkably shorter battery life at just over one hour during active use, compared to Apple's stated battery life of ten hours for the iPad. When it comes to size though, they're similar in that both use touchscreens with a black border, and the P88 is 10.2 inches and the iPad, 9.7 inches. Wu claimed the P88 is sold in the U.S., but wouldn't say exactly where.
An Apple spokeswoman declined to offer any comments.
Apple has yet to say whether or not the iPad would be sold in China. Local carrier China Unicom did start offering up the iPhone last year, but there were already gray-market versions available widely throughout the country.
Recently Fujitsu has also said that it owns the rights to the name "iPad," offering up more legal roadblocks for Apple's product.
Image courtesy of Modmyi.com
