There’s a legal brouhaha going down. Proview Shenzhen is trying to stop Apple from selling the iPad in China, where it’s made. It’s even filing suit in California, where the iPad is designed.
Previously, Kotaku reported that Proview, which developed an “iPad” desktop computer years ago, felt deceived by Apple’s agreement and is trying to top the company from using the iPad moniker — even though Proview went bust. There must be more to it than that, no?
“My biggest wish is to resolve all these frustrating problems and put them behind me,” Yang Long-san told Reuters. “If we can resolve all the problems we have now and I have a chance to make a comeback, I’d still want to overtake my old competitors.”
Proview might be in shambles now, but decades ago, the company was a major player in China’s computer industry, concentrating on desktop displays. It had offices worldwide and employed 18,000. But when the global financial crisis hit in 2008, the company posted its first loss. By early 2010, creditors were coming after Proview.
According to local news media, Proview is seeking 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in damages from Apple. The company has yet to file its 2010 and 2011 financial reports and could face de-listing this (northern) summer.
“Now that I think of it,” he said, “it was a mistake to just blindly focus on expanding. I should have gone after profitability instead.”
“I hope we can return to our glory days,” Yang added. And Apple? Apple hopes Proview will stop trying to get the iPad banned.
On the ropes, Apple’s China nemesis still dreams [Reuters]
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