Mobile phone accessory salesman Tran Manh Hiep rushed to a cafe in southern Ho Chi Minh City on Wednesday when word on the street spread that someone was there flashing the newest iPhone.
Hiep said he inspected the device, recorded it and posted the video on the Tinhte.com forum website, for which he is an administrator.
"It's a real iPhone because when I plugged it into a Mac, it recognized it as an Apple product," Hiep said Thursday, declining to give any details about the phone's owner.
The video could still be accessed on his Vietnamese website, creating much chatter. The iPhone looks similar to one found in a Silicon Valley bar recently. That one was sold to Gizmodo.com, a gadget blog, in April for $5,000.
"It looks almost exactly the same as the one that appeared on Gizmodo's website," Hiep said by telephone. "But it looks newer and has no screws."
Some Vietnamese messages posted on Hiep's forum questioned the authenticity of the phone, suggesting that it may be a fake Chinese model. Many counterfeit phones make their way into Vietnam, but Hiep said he's convinced this is the real deal.
He said he does not know how the man got the iPhone, but that the owner is also a Vietnamese mobile phone dealer.
Apple Inc. is notoriously secretive about unfinished products. Analysts expect a new model in June.
