iPhone 5 launch draws crowds at Asia Apple shops

In a now familiar ritual, Apple 's Asian fans jammed the tech juggernaut's shops in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore to pick up the latest version of its iPhone.

Eager buyers formed long lines at Apple  Inc. stores in Australia and Japan to be the first to get their hands on the latest version of the smartphone.

In Hong Kong, buyers had to sign up online for the chance to pick up the device at a preset time. The first customers were greeted by staff cheering, clapping, chanting ``iPhone 5! iPhone 5!'' and high- fiving them as they were escorted through the front door.

The smartphone is also being launched in the U.S., U.K., Canada, France and Germany on Friday and will go on sale in 22 more countries a week later. The iPhone 5 is thinner, lighter, has a taller screen, faster processor, updated software and can work on faster ``fourth generation'' mobile networks.

Order numbers indicate the iPhone 5 has overcome initial lukewarm reviews.   A

pple  received 2 million orders in the first 24 hours of announcing its release date, more than twice the number for the iPhone 4S in the same period when that phone launched a year ago.

Analysts have estimated Apple  will ship as many as 10 million of the new iPhones by the end of September.

Some Australian fans went to extreme lengths to be the first to own the new phone, grabbing the first spots in line at Apple 's flagship store in downtown Sydney on Tuesday _ three days ahead of the release.

Todd Foot, 24, nabbed the coveted first spot and spent an average of 18 hours a day sitting in a folding chair adorned with an Australian flag, and attempting to catch a few hours' sleep each night in a tent on the sidewalk outside the store.

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