sciencetech-blog

Where are the women? People queue outside an Apple shop in London this morning. Demand is so high that people have been selling their place in queues for thousands, and Apple has been limiting customers to two phones each

The wait is over: After days of sleeping rough outside flagship stores, eager Apple fans have finally got their hands on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus. Pictured are Jameel Ahmed (right) and Sam Sheikh (left), the first two customers to get their hands on the new iPhone 6 at Apple's Covent Garden branch in London this morning

Taking a break: Up to a thousand people wait in a queue in Bond Street to lay their hands on the first iPhone 6 sets at London's Regent Street Apple store. For some, the wait just got too much

Zou Zhiyang, 29, a Chinese student studying in Tokyo, said he intended to buy the maximum two handsets allowed.

'I'll buy one for myself, and another to sell to one of my friends in China,' he said.

On the eve of the launch, Beijing said Apple had won two necessary approvals, one to certify the phone for the Chinese market and another for wireless devices.

But delay has created a lucrative secondary market, especially in Hong Kong, where dealers pay over the retail price expecting to get even more in turn from mainland buyers.

'If we are talking about the 128 gigabyte version we would buy it for as much as HK$18,000 ($2,322),' said Gary Yiu, the manager of the iGeneration reseller store. That is more than double the price of the top-of-the-range iPhone 6 Plus.

'I have around 200 pre-orders with 60 to 70 per cent of these from mainland Chinese customers,' Mr Yiu told AFP, adding he had dispatched 10 staff members to buy as many as possible.

Mr Yiu said the golden version of the 128GB iPhone 6 Plus was the most sought after, and he could resell it for more than HK$20,000.

'There will be very little stock for this model, so a lot of people will be going for it,' he said.

Dozens of resellers outside Hong Kong's Apple stores handed over thick wads of cash to people selling their handsets.

'We have all the models here,' one told AFP carrying more than a dozen bags carrying the phones.

The booming reseller market 'means Apple products are still in high demand in China... their products are still highly accepted there', said Hong Kong-based market analyst Jackson Wong.

Money making: Ahead of doors opening, one of the tents (not pictured) was being manned by Task Rabbit, an online company that outsources household errands, after being paid by a client to queue up on their behalf

Tense: People have been waiting to get their hands on the phones since they were launched last week. Prices for the iPhone 6 start from $869, compared with $649 in the US. The iPhone 6 Plus will retail from $999 in Australia and $749 abroad

'iPhone 6 or 6 Plus are not hugely innovative in a sense but demand is still very high, that means the loyalty for Apple products is still very high.'

In Sydney, where the phone first hit shelves, some buyers had also travelled a long way.

South Korean Jin-Sik Kim spent days in front of the store before the doors opened, revealing scores of Apple employees in blue T-shirts.

In Birmingham, builder Andy Walford, 49, was the first to get his hands on the new phone after spending three nights camping outside the store sleeping on a reclining chair.

Shoppers were corralled into a queue, but as the seconds ticked away to opening time the line of excited buyers became so long staff had to block off the entrance to the Bullring with orange barriers.

Despite their wait the bleary eyed fans were still in an excitable mood, with some even pausing to take selfies in the queue.

William Underwood, 23, was first in the queue with his girlfriend Zoe Brass, 18. The architecture graduate, from County Durham, is
completing a architecture internship while working as a retail assistant.

He said: 'We have been here since 8pm last night outside the Eldon Square entrance. We came through for dinner and thought there is no point going home so we stayed overnight.

'We had brought some chairs with us just in case. There has been times when I have felt sleepy. I think I have had about 45 minutes of sleep and I have work at 10am.'

Zoltan Wiettchen, 24, of Plaistow, east London, said he was first in the queue at the Regent's Street store and had been reserving a spot for his girlfriend.

'My girlfriend is over there sleeping in the first tent in the queue,' he said. 'I set up camp on September 8th at night.

He said he had been disturbed by revellers over the weekend, adding: 'I've had drunk people kicking the tent and pulling me out to take pictures while I sleep.

Excited: A member of the public celebrates at the launch of the iPhone 6 at the Apple store Covent Garden today

Victory: William Underwood (pictured), 23, was first in the queue at Newcastle with his girlfriend Zoe Brass, 18. The architecture graduate, from Chester le Street, County Durham, since 8pm last night

Global success: Apple employees prepare the newly released iPhone 6 for sale at the Apple store in Berlin today. Handsets have been limited to two per customer

High-five: A customer leaves with one of the first iphone 6 handsets from the Apple store in Regents Street, central London, England, today after waiting in line all week

Elated: Andy Woolford, 49, was the first in the queue for the new iPhone 6 Plus, leaves the Apple store at the Bullring shopping centre in Birmingham with his brand new iPhone 6 Plus

The first batch of new iPhones in the world went on sale in Australia today, but one of the first punters to get his hands on the phone managed to drop it as soon as he left the store. Jack Cooksey was the first to buy the iPhone 6 at the Perth Apple store on Friday morning but as he excitedly showed off his new purchase to a reporter outside, it spilled out and fell to the ground

The crowd of people waiting in line groaned as he bent down to pick it up - crack free - and carefully placed it back in the box

First in the world: David Rahimi holds up his iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus after he became the first customer to purchase them in Sydney. He travelled from the US to get his hands on the smartphones

Tempers flare: Customers stand in a line outside the Apple store in Sydney this morning. One angry fan yelled at police outside the store, complaining about queue jumpers before officers moved him to the back of the line

The iPhone 6 Plus and iPhone 6 are compared at a Telstra Store today in Sydney, Australia. Australian buyers have the first opportunity to purchase the device because of the local time zone

David Rahimi and Jasmine Juan travelled from California to Sydney to be among the first in the world to lay their hands on the new iPhone on Friday morning

How the handsets stack up: The iPhone 6 is 6.9mm, the iPhone 6 Plus is 7.1mm thick. This table shows how the new handsets compare with rival offerings including the HTC ONes, Samsung Galaxy Note Edge and Amazon Fire

Workers in Sydney had trouble manoeuvring the large crowds on Friday morning as queues stretched around the block

Apple staff at the Sydney store were prepared for the influx with extra stock on hand to keep up with demand

Chris Jennings was one of the lucky few first through the door at one of Telstra's flagship stores in Sydney