Despite not being officially on sale in the Chinese mainland, Apple's latest gadget - the iPhone 4 - is already selling in Beijing's electronics hub of Zhongguancun.

"Thirty iPhone 4s from Hong Kong just arrived at our storehouse last night," said Wu Peng, a salesman at a shop in the E Plaza Mall. "The price is 9,500 yuan each."

The phones are being smuggled into the country to satisfy demand while talks continue to find an official supplier of the phone in China.

According to ChinaByte.com, China Unicom, which monopolizes iPhone's dealership in China, is hoping to officially introduce the iPhone 4 to the Chinese market. So far, though, there is no date set for when that official launch may take place.

In the meantime, retailers in Zhongguancun have taking orders from customers wanting iPhone 4s and promising they will get phones through unofficial channels within a few days.

Apple is believed to have sold between one and 1.5 million iPhone 4s on the June 24 launch day when it became available in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.

Having seen the big line-ups for the phone in the US, vendors in Zhongguancun were eager to tap into the potential market in China.

At least 10 vendors at Zhongguancun are promising customers that they can get them iPhone 4s - for a price, METRO found out.

Chang Jian, a salesman working at a counter on the B1 level of E Plaza Mall, said licensed iPhone 4s will not be launched in the Chinese market for at least half a year.

"We only have three or four smuggled 32 GB versions of the iPhone 4 which we are selling for 13,000 yuan each," Chang said.

"We have already sold one iPhone 4 last week. The 32 GB version of iPhone 4, which is web-locked from America, is 9,400 yuan and the unlocked one, from Germany, is 12,500 yuan," said Hao Liming, another salesperson.

Vendors at Hilon were also offering to get customers smuggled iPhone 4s.

"The price of the 32 GB version of iPhone 4 is 11,000 yuan for the web-locked one and 17,000 for the unlocked ones," said Wang Haibo, who claimed to be an authorized reseller at Hilon.

In the United States, the cost for the 16 GB version of the iPhone 4 is 199 dollars which is about 1,360 yuan and the 32 GB version is priced at 299 dollars which equals to 2,050 yuan.

Liu Pengfei, a sales manager, said the difference in price was understandable. "Because it is the latest iPhone, it is not surprising that the price will be high. On average, the 16 GB version of the iPhone 4 is 15,000 yuan and the 32 GB version can be 16,000 yuan if you want to buy one at Zhongguancun."

Sellers though were confident the high prices will stay for the time being.

"We don't think the price of iPhone 3G will fall due to the launch of iPhone 4. Apple is a company that never depends on cutting the price of their products to make profits. They have their style and are aiming at a different niche of the market," said Wu Peng.

"Our products related to iPhone are always hot in the market, things such as cell-phone covers, batteries and related decorations," he added.

Han Chunqiang, a salesman in the Zhongke office, told METRO that even if the customers buy smuggled iPhone 4s, they will not be able to use them immediately because of network and software problems.

"I suggest people wait a few months to buy the official iPhone 4 when they can use it without technical troubles," said Han.

Zhao Zhan, 24, a self-proclaimed "electronics lunatic", said he will

wait before buying the latest smuggled iPhone because of the high price.

"But I won't wait until the official ones appear in the market. Frankly speaking, the iPhone 3G which I am using now can greatly satisfy my needs, but it is still good to have the latest one. It is fashion," said Zhao.

Critics have generally received the iPhone 4 favorably but have pointed out that it has some deficiencies. There have been reports that signal strength is reduced if people hold the edge of the phone.

The company subsequently said users should avoid gripping it in the lower left corner.

Some users have also complained about discoloration of the screen, which is reportedly because of a problem with the lamination of the glass on a few of the phones.

FOR CHINA DAILY