Hundreds of gadget fans, or their paid stand-ins, lined up on Friday to be the first buyers of Apple Inc's iPhone, a music and video playing phone that seeks to reshape the mobile industry. Apple stores became a magnet for technology enthusiasts to wait for the phones go on sale at 6 pm local time in each US time zone.
More than 200 people had lined up in front of Apple's Fifth Avenue store by midday on Friday. Another 100 stood outside its San Francisco branch for a device that has whipped technology lovers into a frenzy usually reserved for rock stars.
"It's a gift for my wife," said Eric Brandon, 42, in New York. "It's a little expensive, but it's worth it because there is no other phone that's like it."
Some aimed to make a personal profit from the iPhone, which costs up to $600, by selling it or getting paid to wait. Others had been sent by family members or bosses keen on the bragging rights of being among its first owners.
"Some one is paying me a few hundred bucks to hold the spot," said Roy Fuller, 26, an administrative assistant who took the day off work to spend on line. "Right now, it's $500, $600 ... I don't know if I want to shell that out right now for a phone."
Smaller clusters of customers lined up at stores for AT&T, the exclusive carrier for the phone for the next two years. The svelte iPhone is a gamble by Apple co-founder and Chief Executive Steve Jobs to build upon the success of the best-selling iPod music player and expand the market for the company's software and media services.
The iPhone melds a phone, Web browser and media player. It received rave reviews from US technology gurus who praised the gadget as a "breakthrough" device that is "beautiful." Friday's launch is also viewed as a test of wider US demand for advanced phones, which have already caught on in parts of Asia and elsewhere.
Apple is expected to sell the iPhone in Europe later this year in the run up to the holiday season. It has not disclosed the price or carrier, though speculation has mounted it may reach a deal with British-based Vodafone Group Plc.
Sales in Asia are expected to begin sometime in 2008. But the iPhone's effect has rippled through the wireless industry before even a single unit has been sold. Rival Palm Inc has said the iPhone could hurt demand for its Treo smartphone, at least in the short-term.