Eager Apple fans rushed to stores in Europe and Japan today to become the first owners of the latest-generation iPhone as it made its global debut in five countries.
The iPhone 4, which boasts video chat, high-definition video and sharper screen resolution, hit Britain, France, Germany, Japan and the US. It also went on sale in Northern Ireland today.
Japan's eastern time zone put it first in line to sell the phone and hundreds braved sweltering humidity outside Apple's store in the Ginza district to get their hands on the smartphone. Big queues were also witnessed in London, Frankfurt and Paris.
Queues also formed outside the Apple Store in downtown San Francisco as crowds lined up to be among the first in the US to get their hands on an iPhone 4.
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The original iPhone launched in 2007 brought smartphones to the masses. Apple has sold more than 50 million of the handsets in the past three years.
But its latest version enters a crowded market full of rivals boasting bigger screens and running on Google's open-source Android operating system, which is more accessible to developers than Apple's tightly guarded system.
Taiwan-based HTC's EVO 4G offers a higher resolution camera while Motorola's big-screened Droid X phone, unveiled yesterday in the US, is also expected to offer a strong challenge.
Apple's strict control of what software can be used on the iPhone 4, only available through its iTunes App Store, may encourage some consumers to choose similarly priced alternatives, analysts believe.
The launch of the latest iPhone has been beset by various problems culminating in the white model being delayed to the second half of July due to unspecified manufacturing difficulties.
AT&T, the exclusive network carrier for the iPhone in the US, was forced to suspend a troubled early-ordering process due to heavy demand. Apple said it had received a single-day record 600,000 orders for the new smartphone. France's SFR carrier also halted pre-orders after only three days due to heavy demand that threatened to affect stock levels for the launch today.
The delivery delay for the white iPhone 4 comes two months after Apple was forced to put back the international release of its new touchscreen tablet computer, the iPad.
The new iPhone will be available in 18 other countries in July and 24 more in August
