Unauthorized iPhones on Sale in China

It costs twice as much as in the U.S. and the device on sale at Chinese electronics markets doesn't work properly

The iPhone can be bought in China, even though Apple isn't selling it there and the gadget doesn't function properly despite costing twice as much as in the US.

Enthusiasts willing to pay 8,800 yuan ($1,170) can buy the iPhone at electronics markets in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, the computer and electronics newspaper Dian Nao Bao reported in its Monday editions.

In the US, the combination cell phone-iPod media player can be had for as little as $499. The Chinese version can make calls and send text messages, but it can't receive calls. The voicemail function also doesn't work.

Apple is currently selling the iPhone only in the US, where it's restricted to AT&T's cellular network. Last month, hackers were successful in unlocking the device so that it could be used on other carriers.

Apple spokesman Natalie Kerris said the company was not aware of specific reports of its phones being sold in China but said the sales were not authorized.

"We said we would launch the iPhone in Asia in 2008," she said. "This is not that launch."

The iPhone, which went on sale in the US to great fanfare in June, combines an intuitive touch-screen interface with the media-playing abilities of the iPod.

China already has the world's largest number of mobile phone users and the market is expected to grow rapidly in coming years as incomes rise. The government says the number of Chinese mobile phone subscribers should reach The phones come from Shenzhen, another vendor told the paper. The iPhone is reportedly assembled for the US market in this southern industrial boomtown.

Dian Nao Bao said agents with the Beijing Administration for Industry and Commerce recently seized several iPhones from the Zhongguancun electronics market.

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