Apple's new iPhone made its hotly awaited debut on Friday, with buyers storming stores in Asia and queues forming in European cities.
Sales of the device, which combines a music and video player, cellphone and Web browser, kicked off in New Zealand, where a 22-year-old student became its first owner.
"I'm going to put this on charge, have a play around with it and have a nice long sleep," said Jonny Gladwell, who queued in freezing temperatures for around 60 hours to be the world's first to buy the iPhone at a minute past midnight on Friday.
Guards in kevlar vests and helmets brandished shotguns and stood guard over 500 devices on sale in Hong Kong, a city that has seen its share of unruly crowds at major product launches.
Softbank Corp, which sells the iPhone in Japan, said over 1,500 people lined up outside its flagship Tokyo store. Policemen yelled at passers-by to make room.
In London, a orderly queue in front of the flagship store of O2, a unit of Telefonica, extended around the corner.
"We ordered lots. We've seen the demand the first time, but we're even blown away by this demand. I think it is unprecedented," said Steve Alder, O2 UK's iPhone director.
"We've got stocks coming in every week . I am confident that by the end of the summer, everyone will have one who wants one."
Apple shares have risen by nearly 4 percent over the last week in anticipation of the rollout in 21 countries on Friday.
With its latest device, Apple, the creator of the Macintosh computer and iPod, hopes to ride on burgeoning demand for smartphones, an area which handset makers like South Korea's Samsung Electronics, Taiwan's HTC and Finland's Nokia are fighting to dominate.
THE IPHONE PHENOMENON
The first version of the iPhone was snapped up by 270,000 people within days of its June 2007 launch.
"The iPhone phenomenon is going to stimulate the adoption of smartphones. It will change the landscape, the way the iPod did for the MP3 player industry," said Charles Guo, analyst at JPMorgan.
