APPLE Inc has signed an agreement with three Chinese distributors to provide more sites to sell the iPad, the world's most popular tablet personal computer, industry officials said yesterday.

Up until now, iPads were sold only in a limited number of Apple-operated retail stores and authorized resellers in the largest cities. These retailers couldn't meet the huge demand for the 9.7-inch slate computer.

The agreement is expected to help Apple, which now has only four retail stores in Beijing and Shanghai, to penetrate wider into smaller population centers in China.

The three distributors are ECS Technology, Changhong IT and Highly Information Industry Co, a subsidiary of home-appliance giant TCL Corp, industry sources told Shanghai Daily yesterday.

Apple China declined to comment yesterday.

The three firms, which are also distributors for Hewlett-Packard and Lenovo, will help Apple to expand sales through their industry experience and thousands of stores in cities such as Chengdu and Xi'an in west China.

Apple plans to expand its retail store network to 25 in China as soon as possible, said Ron Johnson, Apple's senior vice president for retail.

On September 17, Apple started selling iPads in China, with a starting price of 3,988 yuan (US$586) for a 16G Wi-Fi model. The 3G model, which features built-in 3G functions and are sold in the United States, are not yet available in China.

The iPad, even without 3G, has been well received by domestic customers due to its touch-screen and numerous applications.

Apple is in talks with China Unicom, its domestic iPhone partner, to offer 3G iPad models on the Chinese mainland, industry sources said. Both Apple and China Unicom declined to comment.