SYDNEY-- Apple Inc. began sales of its newest iPhones Friday
with consumers in Australia becoming the first globally to get
their hands on them.
With the appeal of a bigger screen, veterans of prior launches
said the queues were the longest outside Sydney's Apple store,
highlighting strong initial demand.
"Apple customers wanted bigger screens and now they have finally
done it, " said Shane Gray, who had lined up for 15 hours on the
sidewalk with his wife and young son.
"You don't have to pinch and zoom with emails and Web
pages."
Mr. Gray, who had made a similar pilgrimage to the city-center
store from southwest Sydney for the past five iPhone launches, said
he had been flirting with the idea of switching smartphones after
becoming frustrated with Apple's reluctance to provide a bigger
screen.
Apple's 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus are bigger
than the current four-inch display of the iPhone 5S. They will
compete with makers of Android phones, such as Samsung Electronics
Co. whose flagship Galaxy S5 has a 5.1-inch screen.
The screen upgrade, along with better battery life, a faster
processor, and an improved camera, is expected to drive strong
demand for the new phones. In an interview last week, Apple Chief
Executive Tim Cook said he expects the "mother of all upgrades"
from consumers rushing to snap up the new iPhones.
Mr. Gray and his family were among 1,300 people Apple staff
estimated were waiting in line and that they estimated to be the
largest since the store opened six years ago. Inside the store,
around 200 Apple staff dressed in blue T-shirts and jeans on the
balcony clapped as the clock ticked down for the first iPhones to
go on sale.
First in line was 22-year-old Salvatore Gerace, who works for
social commerce platform Alphatise and wanted to snap up the first
pair of iPhones as part of a publicity stunt. Mr. Gerace and
colleagues had worked in rotating shifts over 10 days to maintain
their place at the head of the line.
"We're here to give away the first two iPhones we get in the
world for free," he said.
Earlier this week, Apple said it received more than four million
orders for its two new iPhones in the first 24 hours after it
started accepting preorders on Sept. 12--more than it had set aside
for preorders.
Apple's main manufacturing supplier, Hon Hai Precision Industry
Co., has employed more than 200,000 people on about 100 production
lines exclusively for the new iPhones around the clock at a Chinese
manufacturing site, according to people familiar with the
matter.
With its larger phones, Apple is hoping to attract and retain
high-end consumers, who are favoring larger displays.
Research firm Canalys says that in recent months, nearly all
smartphones selling for more than $400 and running on Google Inc.'s
Android operating system come equipped with a display larger than 5
inches.
Apple has raised the base price for its most-expensive model by
$100. The iPhone 6 starts at $649 without contract--the same price
that Apple charged for the iPhone 5S when it introduced that phone
a year ago. For the larger iPhone 6 Plus, Apple is charging $749
without contract, making it the most expensive iPhone that the
company has ever sold.
The higher price hasn't done much to diminish demand. The
waiting time for the iPhone 6 Plus is longer, at three-to-four
weeks, while customers can get an iPhone 6 within seven to 10
business days, according to the company's online store in the U.S.
Apple said it has set aside supplies for customers purchasing the
phones in stores on Friday.
One worrying sign, however, for the new iPhones is that Apple
hasn't announced a launch date for the Chinese market. Last year,
Apple introduced its new iPhones in the Chinese market at the same
time that it launched globally. The Chinese government hasn't
approved the phones for sale yet, but it wasn't immediately clear
the real reason for the holdup.
Angela Ahrendts, Apple's senior vice president of retail and
online stores, welcomed the first customers into the company's
flagship Australian store on George Street in Sydney. The former
chief executive of luxury products maker Burberry Group PLC had
traveled Down Under from Apple's headquarters in Cupertino,
Calif.
David Rahimi and his girlfriend, Jasmine Juan, were the first to
exit the store clutching new iPhones. The couple had traveled from
Orange County, Calif., after becoming part of a small group of
Apple customers able to reserve the new phones online.
Mr. Rahimi, who reviews cellphones for PhoneBuff.com in his role
as editor in chief, bought the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus for himself
while Ms. Juan bought the 4.7 inch iPhone. The couple also bought
two more 4.7 inch phones.
"Finally Apple has a bigger screen," Mr. Rahimi said. "It's
something I have been looking forward to."
Mr. Rahimi typically uses Samsung's Galaxy Note, but said the
iPhone 6 Plus will likely become his primary phone now.
Meanwhile, Apple stores in Japan opened two hours earlier than
usual at 8 a.m. on Friday, with employees cheering and exchanging
high-fives with the first customers that entered the store. There
were at least 1,000 people forming a line at the store in Tokyo,
with dozens of media covering the launch. Apple Japan didn't make
public how many of the new iPhones they had in stock, but said
there should be enough for those in line in the morning.
"It's much thinner and lighter than I expected," Yuki Manno, one
of the first people to buy the new gold iPhone 6 from the Apple
Store Omotesando, said.
Apple's delayed iPhone launch in China has been a boon for Hong
Kong's gray market.
Thanks to the strong demand from Chinese customers, the price
premium for the 128-gigabyte version of the gold iPhone 6 Plus has
jumped to more than $1,000, according to the phone retailers in
Mongkok, a bustling neighborhood that is well-known to anyone
shopping for unlocked iPhones and other gray-market
electronics.
"The 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus is more popular than the 4.7-inch
model because Asian customers love using large-screen phones to
watch videos and play games," said Lo Lau, an owner of a smartphone
store in Mongkok.
Daisuke Wakabayashi in San Francisco, Lorraine Luk in Hong Kong
and Jun Hongo in Tokyo contributed to this article.
Write to Daniel Stacey at daniel.stacey@wsj.com and Ross Kelly
at ross.kelly@wsj.com
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