An Apple staff member demonstrates a new Verizon iPhone 4 at Verizon's iPhone 4 launch event in New York, in this file picture taken January 11, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

SAN FRANCISCO -- Apple Inc. on Wednesday said its white iPhone 4 will be available in nearly 30 countries and regions beginning April 28, about 10 months after the black model hit the market.

The iPhone 4 first went on sale on June 24 last year, and Apple had planned to provide both white and black models at the time. But the company delayed the launch of the white iPhone 4 several times, citing manufacturing challenges.

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"The white iPhone 4 has finally arrived and it's beautiful," Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide product marketing, said in a statement.

"We appreciate everyone who has waited patiently while we've worked to get every detail right," he added.

Apple on Wednesday also announced that iPad 2, the second generation of its tablet computer, will arrive in Japan on April 28 and go on sale in China's Hong Kong, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and eight more countries and regions on April 29.

In addition, iPad 2 with Wi-Fi will be available in the Chinese mainland on May 6, the company said.

Apple had planned to release iPad 2 in Japan and other countries on March 25, following the tablet's debut in the United States on March 11. However, the launch of iPad 2 in Japan was postponed in the aftermath of the catastrophic March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami there.