LIU MIN stands a few meters from an Apple Inc. store in Beijing hawking something that can’t be bought inside: the new iPhone 6.

    While the device debuted Friday in Canada, the United States, Hong Kong, Japan and Australia, there is no release date set for the world’s biggest smartphone market. That creates an opportunity for Liu, who promises two-day delivery of a 16-gigabyte iPhone 6 for 8,000 yuan (US$1,303) — almost double the price on Apple’s Hong Kong website.

    “It’s going to be a while before the new iPhone comes to China officially, so if you want it now, you have to pay up,” Liu said, pacing outside the Sanlitun district store selling screen protectors. “Give me a call if you want one.”

    Liu, who wouldn’t discuss his supply chain, wasn’t alone. Four vendors nearby offered the 128-gigabyte iPhone 6 for delivery Saturday at the equivalent of about US$2,441, compared with the Hong Kong price of about US$927.

    Consumers typically wait at least three months for Apple to start selling new iPhones in China, triggering a flood of devices into the country’s black market. As many as 5 million may be smuggled into China before the new models are officially available, said Neil Shah, Mumbai-based research director for devices at Counterpoint Research.

    The promise of lucrative returns also has many of Hong Kong’s finance professionals trying to capitalize on one of the biggest arbitrage opportunities in China.

    “This is a sure bet to make money,” said Ronald Wan, the chief China adviser at Asian Capital Holdings Ltd. in Hong Kong. “From a 50 per cent to 150 per cent markup, it’s better than the stock market.”

    The benchmark Hang Seng Index, the world’s fourth-largest stock market, has gained 3.7 per cent this year.

    Su Ling, 32, who works in the wealth-management unit at a European lender in Hong Kong, bought two devices through Apple’s small-business website for about HK$6,400 ($826) each and anticipates selling them for about HK$10,000.

    “Everyone in my office who could get on the site bought a pair,” Su said. “I plan to go to Shenzhen to sell on the streets” if customs checks entering the border city aren’t too strict, he said, declining to name his employer because he’s not authorized to speak to media.

    The phones are multiband devices that will work anywhere, so they don’t need to be unlocked. Yet anyone selling a device on the black market breaks at least two laws — the requirements to pay hefty import duties and to only use mobile phones sanctioned for sale by the government.

    Last year was the first time Apple’s phones were available in China on the same day as the global debut. Previously, the typical three-month lag helped fuel smuggling of about 20 million iPhones into China annually, said Jun Zhang, San Francisco-based analyst and head of China equities research at Rosenblatt Securities Inc.

    Apple earned US$5.9 billion in sales in the fourth quarter from the Greater China region, including Taiwan and Hong Kong. That is about 16 percent of the company’s total. The iPhone is well behind market leaders Xiaomi Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co., ranking sixth in China with about 6 percent market share, according to International Data Corp (IDC).

    “Chinese consumers will still find ways to get their hands on the device, regardless of the delay,” said Sandy Shen, a Shanghai-based analyst with Gartner Inc. “I think the lag may even fuel the enthusiasm for the device.”

    Zhang Limin, an investor adviser at China Securities Co. in the northeastern city of Harbin, said he’s willing to pay as much as 20,000 yuan for a device. The 30-year-old currently uses an iPhone 5 and a second handset from Xiaomi.

    It’s not just on the Chinese mainland where people are looking to profit from the delay. At the computer-store complex in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district, vendors offer the gold iPhone 6 Plus for between HK$18,000 and HK$28,000.

    “Many, many people are asking — from mainland, from Hong Kong,” said Chen Xiaoming, a 29-year-old worker at the “Well Go Telecom” store.

    In the Mong Kok district, a popular shopping destination for tourists, an electronics store offered to buy an iPhone 6 for at least HK$10,000 and an iPhone 6 Plus for HK$12,000.

    “It’s not just organized resellers trying to benefit from this iPhone demand in China, but even a lot of individuals are hoping to make a buck in this reselling business,” said Kiranjeet Kaur, a Singapore-based analyst with IDC.

    One of them is Zhong Chenyan, a 28-year-old working in Hong Kong’s marketing industry. She bought two gold, 128-gigabyte devices online and plans to sell one to an acquaintance for the equivalent of US$1,546. She plans to resell the other for about US$1,950.

    “Many people around me are doing this, and I wanted to join the fun,” Zhong said. “If I could get the phone and sell it, great.”

    (SD-Agencies)