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Apple is missing out on Chinese New Year sales and giving competitors a potential boost after pulling all iPhones from company stores during the nation’s most important gift-giving season.

Apple stopped selling all handsets at its five China outlets on Jan. 13 after customers pelted the flagship store in Beijing with eggs because it wouldn’t open on the first day of sales for the iPhone 4S. The online store in China also sold out of the device.

The one-week holiday, which begins on Monday, generated $64 billion in retail sales last year, according to government statistics. Clearing iPhones from shelves in the 10 days leading into the Year of the Dragon may help Samsung Electronics and other competitors using Google’s Android software increase their footholds in the world’s largest mobile-phone market.

“Chinese New Year is the most important period for sales promotions,” said Wang Ying, a Beijing-based researcher at Analysys International. “The lack of supply will give competitors an opportunity for sales.”

HTC and Motorola Mobility Holdings also make iPhone-class devices that could win over buyers frustrated by Apple’s sales halt, Wolf said. Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based spokeswoman for Apple, declined to comment on the sales impact of removing iPhones from company stores or say when the devices would return. The new model remains available through carrier China Unicom (Hong Kong) and authorized resellers.

Wang Yun and her husband drove more than an hour to the Apple store in Beijing’s Xidan neighborhood, intending to buy an iPhone 4 as a holiday present for themselves. Wang wanted to use the FaceTime video-call feature to chat with friends in the United States. “No one told us Apple isn’t selling iPhones anymore, and we drove all the way here,” said Wang, a 34-year-old entrepreneur. “Now what are we supposed to do? It’s a long way to come for nothing.”

Other sources are the dozen hawkers milling around outside, haranguing shoppers with cries of “4S here!” and “Brother, come on, buy one!” Negotiations start at 5,700 yuan ($902) for a 4S handset they say is authentic.

That’s about 14 percent higher than the 4,988-yuan price listed on Apple’s website for the sold-out handset.

The 4S debuted Jan. 13 at four of the five Apple stores in China. Hundreds of people waited outside the Sanlitun district outlet in freezing temperatures, and some started throwing eggs when it was announced that the store wouldn’t open. Police had to restore order. Apple later announced it was halting phone sales at all stores, saying the move was “for the time being” and intended to “ensure the safety of our customers and employees.”

Bloomberg