Sydney's first owner of the Apple iPhone 3G S, Mina Abdallah, at the launch last night.

The Optus ‘yes’ store on Sydney’s George St was buzzing at midnight with the Australian launch of the new iPhone 3G S. Around 250 people were lined up last night ready to get their hands on the device with some dedicated customers waiting over five hours to be the first to own Apple’s latest masterpiece.

Mina Abdallah waited around five and a half hours to be the first person in NSW (possibly Australia) to possess an iPhone 3G S.

“I just wanted to own the new iPhone first,” Abdallah said.

Huge demand for new iPhone
www.connectedwomen.net.au spoke with Optus acting marketing director consumer, Anthony Hearne at the launch, who said that one of the main reasons for the midnight opening was because of the huge demand for the new iPhone.

“Over 55,000 people pre-registered for the iPhone 3G S so we knew there was a huge demand,” Hearne told www.connectedwomen.net.au.

“Optus pride themselves in providing our customers with the first opportunity to get the new device and we’ve opened at midnight because no one else is doing it,” he added.

Even the flagship Apple store, a few hundred metres up George St was closed, with a few staff inside preparing for this morning’s opening, but no customers.

Hearne said around 250 people were at the launch in Sydney and estimated around 200 people were in attendance at the launch in Melbourne and around 180 in Brisbane. He also said that online sales, which began at 9pm on June 25, were close to 200.

According to Hearne, the iPhone 3G S is not expected to surpass sales of the original iPhone, however he still thinks it’s going to be a very good seller.

He identified the main points that would drive iPhone 3G S sales.

“Number one will be the early adopters, people that want to have the newest technology first and the new video function will be a big driver that I think will help to break into the market of new iPhone lovers,” Hearne said.

He also said the ability to now use the iPhone as a tethering device to gain access to the internet on your computer is an important addition. Users don’t even need to attach their device with a cable, the connection can be made wirelessly via Bluetooth.

Last week's attendance was around three quarters as many as attended the initial iPhone launch, which Hearne said was promising.

“We think it’s going to be big,” he said.

Staff said they planned to work through the night selling the iPhone 3G S until around 6am.