Apple fans in New Zealand queued for up to 15 hours to snap up the latest iPhone on November 11, kicking off the second phase of the smartphone's global roll-out. Retailers in New Zealand began selling the iPhone 4S at 12:01 am (1101 GMT Thursday), attracting a crowd of about 100 in Auckland, where Telecom Corp laid on pizza and entertainment for the Apple faithful.
University of Auckland student Amy Yang took time out from exams and queued from 8:30 am Thursday to ensure she was first in line, screaming with delight when All Black rugby star Dan Carter presented the phone to her.
Yang, 19, admitted she was not quite sure who Carter - one of the world's finest rugby players - was before he gave her the phone. "I knew his look because of rugby, but I didn't know his name," she told The New Zealand Herald. The iPhone 4S was initially launched on October 14 in Australia, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, the United States and Canada, just over a week after Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died following a long battle with cancer.
Apple sold more than four million of the phones in its first three days on the market. New Zealand is part of the second stage of the launch, which also includes Hong Kong, South Korea, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Malta, Montenegro, Panama, Poland, Portugal and Romania. The latest version of the phone boasts faster speeds, a voice-controlled assistant called Siri and an improved camera.
Wellington man Jonathan Mosen, who is blind, queued for six hours to ensure he got his hands on the phone, saying Siri was a boon for the visually impaired. "It's the only cellphone you can take out of the box and it is usable by a blind person," he told Fairfax Media. Apple plans to make the iPhone 4S available in more than 70 countries by the end of the year.