Consumer demand in China for Apple Inc's yet to be released custom white iPhone 4s may be fueling the market for look-a-like devices. But white-colored phones will not be officially available in China until early next year.

But a random search Monday for a "white iPhone 4" on taobao.com, China's largest online marketplace, turned up over 300 results, with many online retailers claiming to be selling "real" white handsets sourced from directly from Apple insiders.

Wen Baoqiu, a spokesman for China Unicom, Apple's Chinese partner, told the Global Times Monday that there remains no set date for the white model's release in China.

Taiwan-based electronics maker Foxconn, a key manufacturer of Apple iPhones and iPads, denied any involvement in the unauthorized sales of white iPhone 4 parts in a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange Friday.

Analysts believe the white versions may be nothing more than black-to-white conver-sions.

"A few of them (the white model) may be engineering samples while most of them should be black models changed to white by some small workshops," said Ji Chendong, a Shanghai-based consultant with Frost and Sullivan.

Apple has reportedly sought to halt similar handset color conversions by replacing the screws on existing cover plates with hard to remove Torx screws.

Apple said in October white iPhone 4s would be delayed until next spring, explaining that white models are "more challenging to manufacture than we originally expected."