As Apple fans anxiously await the release of the firm's next generation smartphone, fake iPhone 5s are already being sold on many Chinese websites at a fraction of the real handset's expected price, the Beijing Morning Post reported Wednesday.

The knockoffs, dubbed the "HiPhone5," can be bought on hundreds of Chinese websites at prices from 200 yuan ($US 31) to 1,000 yuan ($US 156). One store told the Morning Post it had sold as many fakes as it did real iPhone 4s, moving 7,429 of the fake handsets in 30 days.

The HiPhone5 is 7 millimeters thick, just like the leaked case design of the iPhone5. It also has some of the same powerful features expected in the iPhone 5, including two LED flash cameras, a built-in gravitational sensor, support for two SIM cards, an MP3 player, video support and wireless internet connectivity.

But the HiPhone5 is assembled with cheap components, and its quality can't be ensured, an online shop owner who sells the device said.

Testing by the Chinese government labs found the fake phones had quality problems, including high electromagnetic radiation levels, said He Guili, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Telecommunication Research.

Taipei-based electronics manufacturer Pegatron Corp., who beat out Taiwanese rival Foxconn for the contract to assemble the iPhone 5, has received orders for 10 million units of Apple's next generation smartphone. Rumor has it the company will begin shipping the device next month.

According to microblog posts by Chinese Apple fans, the iPhone 5 will be launched on Sept. 24 in the United States, and go on the market in China at the end of October with a price tag of 7,800 yuan (US$1,210).