iPhone 6 hot-seller in China, if you can get one

BEIJING -- The iPhone 6 is a hot-seller in mainland China. But it's not on store shelves yet -- it's only on the street.

CBS News' correspondent Seth Doane and his producer took a hidden camera into a Beijing shopping center where they found half a dozen smugglers outside an Apple store.

A man they met was trying to sell the iPhone 6 for 7,200 Yuan -- almost $1,200.

Questioned about the higher-end "six-plus" model, the man made a call. It could be bought for $1,800 -- more than double the cost of the same unlocked phone in the U.S..

The iPhone 6 has hit regulatory hurdles in China. The government has not granted licenses for network access and will not say how that long might take. So while millions of iPhone 6s are assembled in mainland China, they're not legally available to purchase yet. The delay comes as foreign technology companies fall under increased suspicion.

"If it's cool in China to have an Apple iPhone, and even cooler to have the new Apple iPhone, to be the first to have the new Apple iPhone in China is about as cool as it gets, and so people are willing to pay top dollar to make that happen," said "Bloomberg West" editor Cory Johnson.

He says the iPhone 6, which went on sale to cheering customers in Japan, has a larger screen, which is a plus in this part of the world.

"The Chinese characters are so complicated and difficult to see on a small phone, a larger format phone has a unique appeal in Asia," said Johnson.

Many of these black-market phones, we were told, are smuggled in from Hong Kong, which has a different set of regulations.

One Chinese student told us he bought iPhones in Australia and brought them home to China, hoping the profits he can make selling them will pay for his flight.

State media reported that in the port of Shenzhen, just across the water from Hong Kong, more than 1,200 smuggled iPhones have been seized since Friday when the phone went on sale there.

In a statement to CBS News, an Apple spokeswoman said, "China is a key market for us and we will get here as soon as possible."