'Hundreds' line up as Australia kicks off worldwide iPhone 5 sales

Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
The world's first iPhone 5 was sold just hours ago as the Sydney Apple Store kicked off worldwide sales on Friday, Australian local time.

According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, "hundreds of Australians" queued up to purchase some of the first iPhone 5s to go on sale worldwide. Because of the country's proximity to the international dateline, Australia was the first to sell the hotly anticipated device.

There are conflicting reports as to who managed to buy the first iPhone 5, with the WSJ saying it was a wireless phone reseller and CNET claiming it was two siblings.

The iPhone 5 launch continues as Apple Stores in Asia are now starting sales, with the U.S. slated to get the device at 8 a.m. on Friday. Among the first to get their hands on the new device will be line-waiters at the flagship Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York.

NY iPhone 5 Line
Line outside of the flagship Fifth Avenue Apple Store. | Source: AppleInsider reader Ryan


The rollout will continue westward to include all nine countries participating in the iPhone 5's launch. Apple's aggressive launch schedule will see the device roll out in 22 additional countries on Sept. 28, just before the company's fiscal quarter ends on Sept. 29.

It is unclear how sales will be handled in the countries starting sales next week as current allotments are sold out in the U.S., with Apple's online store now quoting delivery dates of three to four weeks. The Cupertino-based tech giant announced on Monday that it saw a record-setting 2 million iPhone 5 sales in the device's first 24 hours of availability after pre-orders sold out within one hour of going live.
«13

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 45


    "But… Maps sucks. No one wants an iPhone with iOS 6."

  • Reply 2 of 45


    Certainly more than hundreds!


     


    I went to one of the smaller Telstra stores in the Sydney CBD, arrived just on 7am for 8am opening.  I was 14th in line, and when they came and handed out the tickets for the stock allocation, I ended up with the last 2 of the 64Gb black iPhones.  There were probably 30 people who got stock at this store.  The last tickets that they had were for the white 16Gb model, so not sure if they just ended up receiving a lot of these, or whether these are the least popular.


     


    The main Apple store and the main Telstra store had significantly greater lines.


     


    Some people who had tickets ended up leaving empty handed, and from what I surmise, based on a variety of reasons including having insufficient ID (not having the 100 point ID check for Australia), or having outstanding accounts, etc preventing them signing up for new accounts, etc.  Others just wasted time by not taking copies of the current bills to assist the process.  Be organised!

  • Reply 3 of 45
    But.......



    It doesn't have a pen....



    Surely they are just saving spots for their parents.


    The next big thing was 6 months ago.



    P.S. +12 GMT needs to relocate to US CT. K thx.
  • Reply 4 of 45

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post


    "But… Maps sucks. No one wants an iPhone with iOS 6."



     






    Well, they might get lost on the way home - but they'll be happy.  :-)

  • Reply 5 of 45


    Tickets, standing in line for more than a minute or so, carrying ID and documentation... To qualify? Being drilled by some drilled Apple storekeepers?


     


    I cannot understand this, seriously...

  • Reply 6 of 45
    kcartesius wrote: »
    Tickets, standing in line for more than a minute or so, carrying ID and documentation... To qualify? Being drilled by some drilled Apple storekeepers?

    I cannot understand this, seriously...

    ID to buy a product. What are they thinking down under?
  • Reply 7 of 45
    Is anyone in Austin, TX? I'm planning to queue up at the Domain early tomorrow.
  • Reply 8 of 45
    robmrobm Posts: 1,068member
    christophb wrote: »
    ID to buy a product. What are they thinking down under?

    It's common enough. If you're an existing customer who wanted to change/cross grade/alter a plan the sales staff will often request you bring your last account in.
  • Reply 9 of 45
    robm wrote: »
    It's common enough. If you're an existing customer who wanted to change/cross grade/alter a plan the sales staff will often request you bring your last account in.

    Was being ironical with a US bent. We not require ID to self govern.
  • Reply 10 of 45


    ID for those who what to buy the phone on contract. Copies of other bills to prove their address or their account number. And tickets, what happens is the stores often go down the line with little cards that guarantee a person the phone they want. You want a 32GB Black, you get an official 'ticket' that says that.  Then, once the store has run out of tickets they know they will be out of phones and they send the rest of the line home.




    Did I miss anything?

  • Reply 11 of 45
    brutus009 wrote: »
    Is anyone in Austin, TX? I'm planning to queue up at the Domain early tomorrow.

    Am Oak Hill area. Wouldn't expect lines at Barton Creek until 7:30. The domain has those condos above and the Starbucks right by the Apple Store. 6:45 will probably beat most of Austin out of the sack even on Nexus-Nemesis day.
  • Reply 12 of 45


    As for length of lines. If you see ANYONE say 'oh the lines were shorter this year it must not be as popular'. Let me say this.  I preordered the last iPhone and iPad. But, Apple had not charged my card or shipped my product by the time I was in the launch line. So, I aquired one instore and instantly cancelled my preorder.


     


    This time, Apple took the money and shipped the product on Monday. So I didn't line up. And it was at work at 7:23 AM this morning. :)  Well done Apple.


     


    That, I suspect, is why some lines are shorter.

  • Reply 13 of 45


    And, the people at the front of the queue at the Sydney Apple Store had signs and stickers on them that said finder dot com dot au.

  • Reply 14 of 45
    robmrobm Posts: 1,068member
    christophb wrote: »
    Was being ironical with a US bent. We not require ID to self govern.

    damn, missed that /i tag.
    lol
  • Reply 15 of 45


    It's official. Time to move the International Date Line just east of the United States of Kicking Your Ass.

  • Reply 16 of 45

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by brutus009 View Post



    Is anyone in Austin, TX? I'm planning to queue up at the Domain early tomorrow.


     


    Be sure to parade it in front of the lonely employees at the Microsoft Store. image

  • Reply 17 of 45
    Yep, that's how the tickets work. Better knowing that they have stock for what you're after, then waiting in a line, getting to the front of the queue and finding out that they don't have stock for what you've been waiting for.

    Yes, ID because it was under contract - I paid $0 upfront, so quite reasonable for them to know who they are going to get the money from later on. If I went to the Apple store, I could have paid full price (A$999) without ID, but then I'd still be paying virtually the same for the telco plan, so I might as well get the phone for free. For me it works out over $500 cheaper per phone over 2 years to get the phone on contract.
  • Reply 18 of 45
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by ChristophB View Post



    But.......

    It doesn't have a pen....

    Surely they are just saving spots for their parents.

    The next big thing was 6 months ago.

    P.S. +12 GMT needs to relocate to US CT. K thx.


     


    Yes.


     


    I'd much rather get one of these:


     



     


    Check out the size of that screen. Imagine the size of my penis!

  • Reply 19 of 45


    Originally Posted by GTR View Post


     


    Check out the size of that screen. Imagine the size of my penis!



     


    I'm trying… to… parse that logic. Is it the act of purchasing the device that then determines the size, or is it "the size cannot be determined until you own the device, which will tell you, either via physical comparison or an app"… 

  • Reply 20 of 45


    Went to our local shopping centre at 7:45am.... 50+ people lined up outside telstra shop.. 1 or 2 outside JB Hifi.. which is only literally 10metres around the corner...


    JB Handed out tickets and opened at 8am.


    10 minutes later.... walk past line @ telstra shop with Iphone5 in hand... while the line is getting bigger & bigger... 

Sign In or Register to comment.