SAN FRANCISCO - Apple on Wednesday made an official announcement that the third-generation iPad will arrive at Apple's retail stores and its online store on Friday in the United States and nine additional countries and regions.

According to the company, the new iPad will hit the store on Friday at 8:00 am local time in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, China's Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Britain, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands.

Customers who buy a new iPad at an Apple retail store will be offered free personal setup service, said Apple. Customers in the US could shop and buy the device anywhere they are and pick up their purchase at any Apple retail store.

In the US, the new iPad will also be available at Best Buy, Radio Shack, Sam's Club, Target and Walmart, Apple said.

Starting March 23, the new device will be available in Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, China 's Macau, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

Last Wednesday, Apple introduced the new iPad featuring Retina display, A5X chip and improved camera which can shoot high- definition videos. The 4G model will support 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada, making it Apple's first 4G device. Meanwhile, iPad 2 is still available at a reduced price.

Market research firm Gartner estimated that 103.5 million tablet devices will be sold in 2012 with Apple accounting for two- thirds.