Apple addicts

In London, 27-year-old business consultant Alex Lee queued for 32 hours outside Apple's central London store. A Canadian who lives in Dubai, Lee made the trip just for the launch and said the queuing was as important as the phone itself.

"It's a good bonding experience and you make lifelong friends," said Lee, who previously stood in line for the last iPhone version, the 3GS, without any intention of buying one.

The iconic phone has become Apple's main growth driver, and is expected to soon become its biggest source of revenue. Some analysts estimate that more than two-thirds of iPhone sales come from outside its home U.S. market.

The iPhone 4 is on sale in Japan, France, Germany, Britain and the United States from Thursday, and will be available in 18 countries in July and 88 by September in the quickest-ever international roll-out for an iPhone.

At the Apple store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district, there were only enough phones for customers who had been queuing since at least a day before the launch.

"The hardest part was the heavy rain during the day yesterday," said Akira Nakazawa, an 18-year-old student who had been waiting since Tuesday to be the first of 500-plus people.

In Frankfurt, the Apple store opened two hours earlier than usual and limited the number of phones sold to two per person.

Supply shortages, worsened by a lack of LCD display panels, could cap initial sales and hurt Apple when it faces a slew of new competitors, especially high-powered handsets based on Google's Android.

"The Droids are coming and current demand for the iPhone 4 implies a titanic battle between Apple and Google is imminent," said analyst Jeremy Copp of industry tracker comScore.