Apple on Wednesday said its iPad 2 launch will expand to a dozen additional countries this week, including Japan.
The next-generation tablet will go on sale in Japan on Thursday, April 28, and in Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and eight other countries on Friday, April 29. The Wi-Fi version of the iPad 2, meanwhile, will also be available in China starting May 6.
The iPad 2 will go on sale at 9am local time at Apple stores and at select resellers, but those who want to reserve theirs early can log on to the Apple Web site starting at 1am local time.
Getting your hands on an iPad 2 might be a problem. During a recent earnings call, Apple said it faces "the mother of all backlogs" with the iPad 2, according to Apple chief operating officer Tim Cook.
Apple sold 4.69 million iPads during the first calendar quarter, though that was a steep decline from the 7.33 million iPads the company sold during the fourth quarter, the peak holiday sales season.
Other countries that will be able to snap up the iPad 2 come Friday include India, Israel, Macau, Malaysia, Philippines, South Africa, Turkey, and UAE.
The iPad 2 made its debut in the U.S. on March 11 and Apple expanded distribution to 25 additional countries on March 25. That was supposed to include Japan, but after the devastating earthquake and tsunamis, Apple decided to delay the launch.
"We are delaying the launch of the iPad 2 in Japan while the country and our teams focus on recovering from the recent disaster," Apple said at the time.
In the U.S., the iPad 2 distribution channel recently expanded to include Toys R Us.
Also today, Apple confirmed that the fabled white iPhone 4 will go on sale in several countries, including the U.S., on Thursday, April 28. The company also addressed the iPhone tracking issue in a Q&A, claiming that the iPhone storing so much location data is a "bug we uncovered and plan to fix shortly" via a software update.
For more, see PCMag's review of the iPad 2 and the slideshow below.