Mobile phone stores in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City say they could not meet demand from diehard local Apple fans who want to be the first to have the latest iPhone models, even though the handsets are selling for up to VND70 million (US$3,295) each.

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus unofficially arrived in Vietnam on Friday, shortly after the devices were released in ten markets, including Singapore, Japan, and Hong Kong, the same day.

Many Vietnamese mobile phone traders flew to Singapore to join hundreds of local consumers in buying the latest iPhones. Vietnamese people and overseas students in Singapore were also in the queues, according to a Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper reporter who was in the island country to cover the iPhone fever.

Most of the Vietnamese consumers bought two handsets, as allowed under a new Apple policy. They would keep one for their own use, and resell the other to diehard fans in Vietnam, where the handsets will not be officially distributed until late October.

Vietnamese overseas students wait to buy the new iPhones in Singapore on September 19, 2014.

Vietnamese consumers pose at an Apple store in Singapore on September 19, 2014.

Products brought to Vietnam this way are called hang xach tay, and they normally cost far more than officially distributed devices.

Traders are running ads on Facebook demanding VND33 million to VND42 million ($1,553-1,977) for a hang xach tay 16GB iPhone 6 Plus Gold, compared to the $750 contract-free price in the U.S.

The 16GB iPhone 6 costs VND25 million ($1,177) in Vietnam’s ‘black market,’ while the official price is $690.

The 64GB and 128GB versions of the iPhone 6 Plus are the most sought-after, despite their exorbitant prices of up to VND50 million ($2,353) for the 64GB, and even VND70 million for the 128GB, according to sellers.

Mobile phone stores said they did not stock many new iPhones, as the devices are usually distributed officially in Vietnam a month after being released in major markets.

FPT Shop, the local Apple authorized dealership, has said it will start selling the new iPhones by the end of October. The 16GB iPhone 6 is expected to fetch VND18 million ($847), and the iPhone 6 Plus, VND20 million ($941).

The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus officially hit shelves in the U.S., the UK, Germany, Canada, France, Australia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Japan on September 19, and Apple has said the devices will be available in at least 115 markets by the end of the year.

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