iPhone fans line up in Tyler - KYTX CBS 19 Tyler Longview News Weather Sports

TYLER (TYLER MORNING TELEGRAPH) - A voice in the crowd jokingly asked, "Is everyone here for the new iPhone?"

"No, this is what we do every night!" shouted another voice, drawing laughter among the 35 people in line just before 8 a.m. today outside the AT&T store at 4757 S. Broadway Ave.

It was a merry scene this morning, one playing out at stores around the globe as eager buyers stood in lines to be the first to get the iPhone5, the latest version of the smartphone.

At the Broadway Avenue store, Josh Jolly, 18, a music student at the University of Texas at Tyler, had the distinction of being the first of the first, having been the line's vanguard starting 14 hours earlier.

"I usually get the iPhone when it comes out, but I've never done the whole store-launch thing," Jolly said.

No. 2 in line was Shawn Osborne, 31, a Tyler Junior College nursing student who had joined Jolly some 12 hours earlier.

"I need to get this upgrade," Osborne said when asked why he decided to get in line so early.

Seventeen spots back in the line was Jodie Bower, 38, who works in marketing and sales for Tyler Junior College.

Ms. Bower, clutching a cup of coffee, said she arrived in line at 5 a.m. today.

"I'd rather get it today than wait three or four weeks," she explained. "I might as well have the latest and greatest."

She said her spirits were buoyed by the chipper AT&T staff, which made sure everyone in line had a purchase form to fill out before they entered the store.

"They're pretty peppy!" Ms. Bower said.

Those in line outside the store were but a microcosm of similar line scenes played out around the world, according to an Associated Press story.

In London, some shoppers had camped out for a week in a queue that snaked around the block. In Hong Kong, the first customers were greeted by staff cheering, clapping, chanting "iPhone 5! iPhone 5!" and high-fiving them as they were escorted one-by-one through the front door.

The handset has become a hot seller despite initial lukewarm reviews and new map software that is glitch prone. Apple 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.