Apple pulls iPad from Amazon China

The iPad has apparently been pulled from sale on the Chinese version of Amazon, but apparently the reason wasn't because of some Amazon competition overseas, or even that recent lawsuit against Apple trying to stop the iPad from selling in that country.

Nope -- apparently, it was Apple. Amazon's China management says Apple was the company that requested the iPad be taken down from online sales in China. Proview Technology Shenzen, the group leading the charge against the iPad's Chinese sales, hasn't even contacted them or mentioned online sales in the lawsuit.

So what's the deal? TechCrunch suggests that the pull is still somehow related to the Proview case, though Apple's not saying anything except that it's sure the decision will fall in its favor. It could be that this is a preemptive move, designed to shore up Apple's argument as the case goes forward. Maybe Amazon sales in China were low already, and pulling out of this market ensures that Apple's situation will look a lot less threatening as Proview tries to argue that they don't belong in China.

Then again, it could be a completely unrelated matter: Maybe Apple is just seeing high demand overseas, and decided not to sell through Amazon's third-party store when things were already going so well directly. Whatever the reason, if you're in China and need to buy an iPad, you won't find one on Amazon.