Apple fans queued overnight in their hundreds outside stores in Europe and Japan to snap up the latest iPhone, as the technology giant set a new benchmark in the hard-fought and fast-growing smartphone market.
The iPhone 4 is on sale in Japan, France, Germany, Britain and the United States from today, and will be available in 18 countries, including Ireland, next month and 88 by September in the quickest-ever international roll-out for an iPhone.
The iconic phone has become Apple's main growth driver, and is expected to soon become its biggest source of revenue. Some analysts estimate that more than two-thirds of iPhone sales come from outside its home US market.
The iPhone 4 makes possible video calls, can handle multiple tasks simultaneously and has longer battery life than previous versions - adding specifications that some rivals already have to its iconic design appeal.
It sold a record 600,000 in pre-orders in a single day last week, and BGC analyst Colin Gillis expects Apple to set a record for being the first company to sell a million smartphones in a single day.
For the current quarter, which ends on Saturday, analysts expect Apple to sell up to nine million iPhones, including sales of older models. Analysts expect Apple to ship 10 million or more a quarter, as output ramps up to meet demand.
Apple's latest salvo in the battle for the smartphone market, which IT research firm Gartner expects to grow 46 per cent this year over last year's 172 million units, comes as rivals based on Google's Android software gather steam.
Analysts estimate that Android's 4 per cent of the market last year will grow to 11 per cent this year, while Apple's share is seen steady at 14 per cent.
Still, Apple's cult status remains undented.
Queuing for an iPhone 4 outside the Apple store in San Francisco, 31-year-old Joseph Lobato said: "I haven't slept in 30 hours. I'm in line to replace the first generation that I ridiculously stood in line for the first time, and am ridiculously standing in line again."
In Paris, Apple aficionados began queuing at lunchtime yesterday for a midnight iPhone launch at France Telecom's flagship Champs Elysees store.
"I've heard a lot of good things about it. I couldn't resist any more", said Virginie, a 27 year-old marketing assistant and first-time iPhone buyer, and one of the few females queuing.
In London, 27-year-old business consultant Alex Lee queued for 32 hours outside Apple's central London store. A Canadian who lives in Dubai, he made the trip just for the launch and said the queuing was as important as the phone itself.
"It's a good bonding experience and you make lifelong friends," said Mr Lee, who previously stood in line for the last iPhone version, the 3GS, without any intention of buying one.
At the Apple store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district, there were only enough phones for customers who had been queuing since at least a day before the launch.
In Frankfurt, the Apple store opened two hours earlier than usual and limited the number of phones sold to two per person.