I must admit I've had my doubts that people would queue up for the iPhone 5 to the same degree they did for the other iPhones. I thought perhaps Apple had peaked with that sort of thing and with the market now being split between Android/Apple.. there wouldn't be the demand.

But this article here suggests otherwise:

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/digitalt...ed-demand.html

I think it makes a good point. I know personally, being an Iphone 3G user.. I'm waiting for the new one to come out to upgrade and I suspect a lot of other iPhone users, possibly all of them, may decide to upgrade too.. which could lead to big demand.

So will the queues be around the corner like they have been in the past or will the demand be reduced?

Apple will promote it aggressively and I suspect queues will again snake around corners and half way down the street yet again. Three weeks later Samsung or HTC will release a new phone which will not come with the same mad circus attached and will make the iPhone 5 look seriously out of date specifications wise. I fear Apple has had its day with being the pinnacle of smart-phone technology and will seek to maintain its huge tablet lead instead.

can someone explain to me (particularly as a non-Apple fan) why there is the need to spend hours queuing up on the day it's launched? (same applies for video games etc).

Isn't it easier just to reserve yours then pop down a couple of days later?

Does anyone on DS plan on queueing? Have they for the previous versions? Does it make them happier than waiting a couple of days?

(Genuinely confused, rather than taking the piss)

because they're idiotic sheep who can't go a day without owning the hot new iphone.

I believe they are delaying launch so they have got sufficient units available at launch (when ever that happens in the UK). However you will still get the usual sheep queuing.

The demand will be big for this phone, no doubt about it. Yes you will get long queues in a few places. The media will pick up on a couple of such queues, and make out its countrywide issue, when it isnt.

Apple will leak stories about supply shortages, thus fuelling stories people cant get the device for a few weeks, unless you order today. People will rush out to purchase said device. Some will sell their first born, others will quit their job and queue for a couple of days. Some will re-mortgage their house to get one. News reporter will grab hold of some bloke who has walked out of the store with an iphone5. They will be beaming smile from ear to ear, will smell a bit as they have queued for 2 days. So news reporter will hold microphone at arms length, and stand a bit further back. Luckily we have wide-screen tvs, so we will still be able to get them both in the same shot. Happy customer will claim that even though they havent taken the phone out of the box (dont want to get it dirty, as he hasnt washed his hands for a few days), its the best phone they have ever had. Its taken 4 shots of their golf handicap, random sexy women are now giving them their phone number, the boss has given them a payrise. Life in generally could not be better. The rest of the world think wtf. Jobs looks on smiling, whilst sipping on a glass of romanee conti.

Yep, same old, same old then. The apple/queueing for a week situation is so ripe for satire.

Fair enough if that is the only way to get one.

But these days you can pre order online (at least you could with the iphone 4). I ordered mine on the first day of pre order and had mine delivered pretty much as I parked my car at the office at 9am.

No queues, no fuss easy. Plus cheaper in the long run as i'm not tied into an overpriced contract.

I think with pre-orders you dont get it launch day??? Not sure though. If you did get it launch day, it does make you wonder why the hell would you queue for a couple of days? Unless of course they are paid by apple to queue. Mainly at high profile locations like Regent street London.

,,,

I got mine on Launch day after pre-ordering it last year. The Apple website sold out within a few hours, then the lead times became after launch day.

The year before that you couldn't pre-order online at all from Apple or O2. Only Carphone Warehouse offered online pre-orders.

I queued for iPhone 4 from 6am at the O2 store. Had I turned up 20 minutes later I wouldn't have got one (or more accurately I'd have had to go to an apple store in Manchester where I had two reserved).

I highly doubt I'll be queuing for the iPhone 5 especially as I'm planning on getting one for me and the other half on different networks and I can't be in two places at once

What do you think the price of the phone is going to be? TBH I never cared about the iphone but since I've been SO into technology recently I want it all!

can I ask why? particularly if you had two reserved elsewhere? and, let's be honest, even if you hadn't reserved any, you still would have got one, it might have just taken a few days. It's not like (for example) the latest Harry Potter book, where if you don't get it as soon as it comes out, you run the risk of people 'spoiling' it for you. And it's not like they'll really run out, there's no shortage of iphones.

Again, genuinely interested in people's motivations, not taking the p.

same price as the 4

Main reason I opted to queue rather than collect the reserved ones was to save the trip to Manchester. Plus from what I've heard I would have had to queue for as long if not longer despite having the reservations if I had gone to the apple store. Also I was taking advantage of O2's time limited early upgrade offer and if I hadn't ensured I got one on launch day I may have not been able to get one due to limited availability.

And the limited svailability is why I have to disagree with your statement "and it's not like they'll really run out, there's no shortage of iPhones". There was a shortage and they couldn't keep up with demand for several weeks if not months following release not a few days like you say

Are you sure it won't be more? Because I thought the demand would be higher. What are the confirmed features BTW? Like people are talking about it as if it's out next week!

It's not been announced yet, so there are no confirmed features. Everything is just rumors.

why do you think the demand will be higher?

thanks Dave for the response btw. It does sound like a classic case of panic buying - people seem to think there will be a shortage, so they all queue up to get it in the first few hours...leading to a shortage. There is no doubt in my mind that if Apple chose to, there would be no shortage of availability. But then they don't get the queues and hype which is all part of the 'Apple buying experience'.

For me, I get a new phone when my contract is up for renewal. If that happens to coincide with a shiny new phone, then great. If there's a shiny new phone out within a few weeks, I might wait. If that phone is out of stock for a few weeks, I'll manage. It will not change my life.

And CERTAINLY, going from a iphone 4 to an iphone 5 will not be a life-changing experience. Perhaps if it was people's first smartphone, as the earlier models were, there might be more of a case, but all you'll get is a slightly better screen, slightly better camera, slightly faster + a few android features.*

*Probably. Spec tbc of course. I'll eat my hat if it does anything 'revolutionary' though.

But will it be magical?

I think there will be some queues. I am a Mac bloke but I don't get that. I think that iPhone 5 is looking pretty good from the rumour mill. Let's see what it's like in real life, though I am more excited about iOS 5.

You could swap "iPhone" with any number of things and this still stands. I've seen people queue all night for Windows 7, or until midnight for the latest Harry Potter.

All a bit sad really.

I'll get one of the new iPhones of course, since my 3Gs needs an upgrade. However, will I queue up all night to get it on launch day? Will I f**k!!

Ordering online for delivery was only any use if you wanted to buy one SIM free unlocked. Anyone looking to get one subsidised on a new contract had to go to the Apple / Network shop.





With the iPhone 4, if you didn't get one on the launch day, you were unlikely to get one "a couple of days later" or "a few days later". They did run out, they did have shortages.

Any stock not already reserved got completely snapped up on the launch date...Then when the new stock drip fed in x days later that got snapped up instantly too, and so on, until it finally settled down when the initial demand died down and the re-stocking improved. Getting one "a couple of days later" required queuing up early and trying your luck that they would actually have stock left when it was your turn to be served.

Right, ok, so what? A few days later ends up a few weeks later. So what? What was the urgency, particularly for the 4th iteration of a product that most purchasers already had an earlier version of?

Some people feel they have to have something new as soon as it comes out. Partly to "keep up", I guess, but also there's the worry that if they don't get it straight away, they will have to wait an indeterminate length of time before it comes back in stock.

As with what edEx said earlier, it applies to many things. It isn't just Apple products which people queue for.

I know people who are queueing up right now for the midnight launch of Gears of War 3 for the Xbox 360. Same thing happened for Modern Warfare 1 & 2, Halo 3, and various other "big games". People queued for the 360, PS3, & Wii consoles themselves when they were launched. It happens with all sorts of things, but especially anything techy.