Apple's iPhone goes on sale in Asia

TOKYO, Japan (AP) -- The new iPhone model went on sale in the Asia-Pacific region Friday, making its debut in Japan amid swirling smoke after a 30-second countdown chanted by hundreds of people lined up, some for days, snaking around the block.

The celebration at Japanese carrier Softbank Corp.'s store, which included a digital clock display ticking away over the entrance, was part of a global rollout in 22 nations of the 3G, or third-generation, wireless connecting Apple Inc.'s much-hyped cell phone, an upgrade of the model that went on sale last year in the United States and several other nations.

Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong were the other Asia-Pacific locations getting the new phone. In the United States, phones will be available at 8 a.m. in each time zone.

In Tokyo, Taichiro Nakamura, a 28-year-old filmmaker, who was all smiles as he showed off his brand new iPhone, said the first thing he did was call his girlfriend.

"I'm so happy," he said, adding that he had the iPod Touch portable music player and decided he wanted the iPhone, too. "I've been interested for some time."

By Friday, the line that had been growing for days had reached about 1,000 people. Signs went up that said the store had stopped accepting applications.

Exactly how many iPhones will be available is uncertain, fueling the hype about the Apple gadget that boasts a cool-factor reputation. Watch the scene outside the first store in Tokyo to sell the iPhone »

"This is the year that the cell phone becomes an Internet-connecting machine," Softbank President Masayoshi Son told the crowd at the countdown ceremony. "Today is that day that will make it real, and it's a historic day."

The iPhone is designed to browse the Web in much the same way computers do. The networks promoted by Japanese carriers, such as "i-mode" from NTT DoCoMo, are more closed than the Web. Such systems have allowed carriers to control services and charge fees.

Tomohiko Katsu, a 38-year-old banker, said he has rarely lined up for any product in his life but wanted to make sure he got the iPhone and got in line Thursday afternoon.

"All the features come packed in a compact machine," he said. "It's really small for a mobile PC device."

Katsu shrugged off the criticism already popping up from some Japanese that the iPhone may be a bit heavy and bulky compared to cell phones common in this gadget-loving nation.

The iPhone's capabilities are less revolutionary here, where people have for years used the tech-heavy local phones for restaurant searches, e-mail, music downloads, reading digital novels and electronic shopping. They tend to shrug off foreign models, such as those of Nokia Corp.

A report this week by Mizuho Securities Co. said the iPhone's had potential to change lifestyles and bring new business opportunities.

Japanese tend to spend an hour or more on daily train commutes, and the iPhone could get them Netsurfing more than reading or listening to music, it said.

The iPhone's arrival could also change the relationship between manufacturers and carriers because of Apple's clout. Up to now, carriers have had considerable leverage over manufacturers, the report said.

The latest Japanese cell phones have two key features absent on the iPhone -- digital TV broadcast reception and the "electronic wallet" for making payments at stores and vending machines equipped with special electronic readers.

But they don't have the iPhone's nifty touch screen or glamour image.

Hundreds queued outside stores in New Zealand's main cities got their iPhones earlier at midnight Thursday. iReport.com: See first sales in New Zealand

"Steve Jobs knows what people want," Web developer Lucinda McCullough told the Christchurch Press newspaper, referring to Apple's head. "And I need a new phone."

There has been some grumbling about prices in New Zealand, where Vodafone, the only mobile provider selling the iPhone there, is charging between NZ$199 (US$151) and NZ$549 (US$416) for the new iPhone unit and NZ$250 (US$190) a month for a minimum two-year connection plan.

The iPhone is selling in Japan for 23,040 yen (US$215) for the 8-gigabyte model, while the 16-gigabyte version costs 34,560 yen (US$320).

Apple plans to sell its 8-gigabyte iPhone for US$199 in the United States and the 16-gigabyte version for US$299. The company, based in Cupertino, California, says it has sold about 6 million iPhones since last year. It hopes to sell 10 million by the end of 2008.

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