Crowds Line Up As iPhones Go On Sale

A customer passes the Apple logo while waiting in line to buy an iPhone Friday at International Plaza.

By MICHAEL SPOONEYBARGER / Tribune

By RICHARD MULLINS The Tampa Tribune

Published: Jun 30, 2007

TAMPA - Did screaming teenagers storm the mall on Friday? Was Steve Jobs seen anywhere near Apple's store in International Plaza? Did mall security guards have to subdue any overly rabid fans?

There were no sightings of the bespectacled Apple founder in his trademark black sweater and jeans. And the lines were orderly.

What really mattered was Apple's new iPhone.

iFinally.

After months of anticipation and hype unseen on the battlefield of American commerce, Apple's combination iPod-phone-Internet browser actually crossed the threshold from cashier to customer and transformed from prototype to product.

It all began at 6 p.m. nationwide at stores for Apple and AT&T, which is the exclusive carrier.

In Tampa, Nick Starr became the first customer to buy America's latest must-have gadget, pulling $1,200 in cash from an envelope for two phones. He held them up like gold medals to cheers from the crowd of people still waiting for their chance.

"It's so thin. I can't believe it. I just want to use it so bad," said Starr, 26, a St. Petersburg technology consultant.

Within 10 minutes of activating it online, Starr made his first call to a friend in San Jose, Calif., who also was waiting in line for his iPhone.

"Hey, Shooby, this is Nick Starr, I'm calling you on my iPhone," he said, using his friend's nickname. "I just want to rub it in that I have one and you don't. … Yes, it's as fantastic as it is on the ads."

Starr was one of 480 customers who bought iPhones in the first 90 minutes Friday night at Apple's International Plaza store. Nearly all of them bought the limit - two iPhones per customer - a store employee said.

Friday's launch cooked together all the best ingredients of America's most glorious commercial bonanzas: coy marketing stagecraft by Apple, hyperventilating blogs, Wall Street prognostications, wall-to-wall media coverage, and lines of customers displaying a weirdly captivating combination of brand devotion and social stuntsmanship.

P.T. Barnum would be proud.

The scene was repeated across the country Friday as Apple and AT&T released the first models of the iPhone - billed by Apple as the most user-friendly smart phone ever. Many customers had waited in line for hours or, in some cases, more than a day for a chance to buy the new handset. Apple's price is $499 for a 4-gigabyte model and $599 for an 8-gigabyte version, on top of a minimum $59.99-a-month two-year service plan with AT&T, which offers a cell phone network reaching roughly 270 million out of the 300 million people living in the United States.

For those currently using another cellular provider, there's also the cost of switching carriers. Still, the steep overall cost didn't stop Tom Watson, who held No. 55 in the line outside an Apple store at Seattle's University Village mall.

"It's definitely more money than I've ever spent for a telephone," he said.

Such potential has made investors almost as jubilant as iPhone fans. Apple's stock has been pushed up from $80 per share to more than $120 in the past six months, effectively creating billions of dollars in shareholder wealth.

Still, not everyone is so enthralled - especially with hype that has prompted some Wall Street analysts to predict that iPhone sales could hit 45 million units in two years.

"That's nuts," said Rob Enderle, an industry analyst with The Enderle Group. "Overhyping this thing just puts it at risk of being seen as a failure.

"Apple will break [sales] records for a phone of this class," he said, "but selling tens of millions of units so quickly is going to be tough. First-generation products always have problems that you don't know about until the product ships."

High finance didn't matter Friday night in Tampa to those lucky new iPhone owners who emerged from the gleam of Apple's retail shop and into International Plaza's hallway. Their faces beamed as they walked with sort of newfound celebrity, and clutched their shiny gadget as if they were a ticket to happiness itself.

News crews encircled some customers to record their thoughts on sudden iPhone ownership.

P.J. Perro of New Port Richey also paid $1,200 cash for two iPhones. He was the third customer to buy his iPhone at the Apple Store.

"One is for my girlfriend." Then, with a smile, he said the other one is to sell on eBay.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter Richard Mullins can be reached at (813) 259-7919 or rmullins@tampatrib.com.