New iPhone selling briskly across globe
BERLIN — Apple Inc.'s newest iPhone was in hot demand today as hundreds lined up outside stores in Tokyo, Berlin and elsewhere to become among the first to own the device.
The iPhone 4's launch started at 7 a.m. in several regions across the globe, beginning in Japan and moving across France, Germany and the U.K. before going on sale in the U.S.
Long lines formed from early morning across the city at Apple stores and retail outlets across Tokyo.
At the Apple store in the city's swanky Ginza shopping district, several hundred lined the street in the early afternoon heat, as staff handed out bottled water and loaned black umbrellas with the company logo. A man dressed as a giant iPhone danced and waived his arms as he made it to the front of the line.
"I like the design. It's sleek — I think it's cool!" said Yoko Kosugi, 41, a graphic designer, who took her new phone out of her bag to show it off, plastic wrapping still on the screen.
In Germany, exclusive carrier Deutsche Telekom AG allowed customers to order the phone starting June 15, so many who lined up at stores were assured of getting a device.
Frank Moravietz, a project developer in Berlin, stopped by a Telekom shop on the capital's main Unter den Linden boulevard around midday to pick up his new iPhone — a birthday present for his wife.
"I ordered it in advance and everything has gone off without a problem," Moravietz said. "I only had to wait about 45 minutes."
In Apple's newly opened store in the Georgetown section of Washington, employees handed out free pastries to people in line.
Beth Henriksen, 30, of Washington, was the first person in the "reserved phone" line at the Georgetown store. She got in line at 2:15 a.m. Henriksen, a sign language interpreter, said she is upgrading her old iPhone to the new model because of the Facetime application allowing face-to-face video calls.
"This is revolutionary in the U.S. for deaf people to have a mobile device they can use to communicate in their native language."
