There’s no better way to visibly judge demand for a new Apple device than to check the queues on launch day. Looking at the numbers lined up around the UK today, the iPhone 4 is no exception.
In Manchester, we took a quick run around the city centre ten minutes before many shops were due to open to find out what demand was like.
O2 Stores saw huge demand, with around 120 people outside each of the branches we checked. O2 staff were handing out newspapers to those in line. Only a handful of people were waiting outside Carphone Warehouse stores (around 10 per branch).
We saw no-one at all waiting outside any of the other networks’ stores. Whether this was down to them having resvered stock only, we’re not sure.
It was unsurprisingly the Apple store that saw the highest demand. Around 60 people were queuing in the line for preorders, while the line for people chancing their arm at picking up an unreserved handset numbered… well, we lost count. Take a look at our shaky-cam video below to work it out for yourselves. Where the line starts facing the camera is where the preorders start.
Elsewhere in the UK, demand is reported to be high. The BBC’s Rory Cellan-Jones, for example, reports 100 queuing outside an O2 store in Cardiff and 40 outside a store in Farnborough.
UPDATE: @susiweaser reports that the Carphone Warehouse store she visited had just six handsets in stock. This is likely to be repeated elsewhere; in previous years first day stocks at Carphone Warehouse stores were low.
UPDATE 2: Here’s our editor in chief, Zee’s view as he queues in central London.
UPDATE 3: The Next Web contributor Pedro Telles sent us these shots from Nottingham city centre at 11am – three hours after most shops started selling the phone.
I queued up outside a Vodafone store in the sticks thinking there’d be a smaller queue than in a big city. I was right. However, it didn’t open at 7am either as hinted at by suitably vague emails issued by Vodafone yesterday. I went online via my O2 iPhone 3G and placed an order with Vodafone from the queue as ther was no indication whether the store would be opening before 9am or whether they’d actually have any stock in the store.
So were you successful in getting one Tim?
Got to Kingston early doors to be turned away. They only had 150 units! And were selling two per customer so could only serve between 75 and 150 customers and there was at least double that in the queue. Poor show Apple
Order placed but awaiting an email saying it’s approved and only after then will it be issued for next day delivery, so who knows when I’ll see a phone. All comms from Vodafone sound buzzy and positive but have been calculatedly vague throughout this whole ordeal.
I wish people would get a grip, design aside the new iphone doesn’t particularly do anything the old iphone didn’t already.
I wonder if these people have any idea how totally controlled by marketing they are.
They’ve got no idea t’… But all this queuing isn’t for new features – it’s so they can be the first to have the handset and show it off down the pub because in two weeks every fanboy they know will have the exact same thing and they’ll be sat in the pub answering an unringing phone because there are only 5 tones to pick from and every f*cker has the same one.
Got outside vodafone shop this morning at 7 30 i was second in line opened store at 8 out of store at 8 15 with 2 new iphones no problem atall.
sorry store was vodafone bridgwater somerset
Woo, that’s me in the queue at the Cross St O2 store!
Shame on me for queuing for arguably the best phone available when I’m out of contract and due an upgrade. I am totally controlled by marketing.
It’s not the best phone on the market though, it’s just the 3GS with a new look.
Nothing I’ve seen makes me think iphone4 is worth bothering with any more than a 3GS was. Unless you can enlighten me to what makes it so great?
There are plenty of reviews that argue it’s probably the best phone on the market – e.g. Engadget http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/22/iphone-4-review/
For me (an ex-3G owner) it was an obvious choice to make given that it’s time for an upgrade – HD video recording and vastly improved screen quality swung it for me. 150 minutes in a queue well spent (I’d have been in bed otherwise!)
Each to their own I guess, I just can’t see myself buying a phone that loses reception when it’s picked up – http://goo.gl/m3fU.