Apple (AAPL +0.00%) made it official this morning: the company will be releasing its fourth-generation iPhone and its iPad Mini onto Chinese shelves next Friday, Dec. 7, with the iPhone 5 to follow a week later on Dec. 14. The company announced yesterday that it had cleared some vital regulatory hurdles toward this goal and is now proceeding with the rollout. While this is very positive news, it was almost certainly predicted by shareholders. Fool.com research analyst Lyons George warns that rather than watching share prices for the rollout itself, investors would be best advised to follow how well these devices do in China, where Apple has seen its market share eroded by increasingly aggressive competitors.
