Lines forming by Apple Stores for Friday's launch of the Apple iPhone 6s and Apple iPhone 6s Plus

It is that time once again. On Friday, the Apple iPhone 6s and Apple iPhone 6s Plus both launch and there will be long lines outside Apple Stores. As usual, there are a number of people willing to camp out early to make sure that they are able to purchase one of the new models before they are sold out. Outside the Apple Store in San Francisco, six neighbors have been waiting on a line since 6pm local time on Tuesday evening, sleeping in the street.

The first two online in San Francisco are 73-year old Viet Nguyen, and 48-year old Huong Dinh. Both are looking to buy the 64GB Apple iPhone 6s in Rose Gold. Dinh says that she will buy one for herself and one for her daughter. Her husband will purchase her current daily driver, an Apple iPhone 6. The store will open Friday morning at 8am local time.

Besides the U.S., the new models will launch on Friday in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore, the U.K. and in China. This is the first time that China is getting the iPhone on the initial launch date. The region has become very important to Apple. As of last March, it become the top iPhone buying market in the world.

While some of those waiting on line were too late to pre-order the phone and didn't want to wait weeks for it to arrive, there are some who are being sponsored to wait in line. These people are seeded money to buy the maximum number of iPhones, and are also paid for the time spent waiting on line. Once they have the handsets in their possession, they turn them over to the "financiers" who quickly ship them to foreign markets for a quick profit. Last year, many of these opportunists were shipping the phones to China for sale in the black market. This year, with Chinese consumers able to purchase the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus on launch day, this type of shady activity might not be so prevalent.


source: CNET