PROVIDENCE – Apple Stores nationwide, including the one at Providence Place, closed their doors today at 2 p.m. to prepare for the iPhone’s 6 o’clock premier. The stores will reopen this evening, from 6 to midnight, as the multimedia mobile phone announced by Apple Inc. half a year ago goes on sale. Availability is first-come, first serve.
That’s not news to the thousands of people nationwide who started lining up days ago to be among the first to buy one – or even two, the limit set by the manufacturer. At the Apple Store in New York City, the line formed early Tuesday, led by retired highway maintenance worker Greg Packer, Bloomberg said.
Priced at $499 for the 4-gigabyte and $599 for the 8-gigabyte version, the iPhone will be available locally at the Apple Store at Providence Place and at AT&T stores, including the one in the same mall.
The iPhone combines a camera phone, iPod and Web browser, all in a handheld device whose sleek styling is typical of products produced by Apple since founder Steve Jobs’ return. Reviewers have called it a “beautiful and breakthrough” gadget that lives up to its hype.
T. Michael Walkley, a Piper Jaffray & Co. analyst based in Minneapolis, told Bloomberg News will force other mobile-phone makers to come up with more innovative designs and improve their devices’ ease of use. Though “many companies … have tried to come into the handset industry and failed,” Walkley said, “certainly Apple, with their consumer electronics brand, is one that you could see succeeding longer term.”
Its advent may help boost sales of other advanced phones, at least temporarily, Palm Chief Executive Officer Ed Colligan told Bloomberg in an interview yesterday. “The significant hype around the iPhone has an opportunity to impact at least the category for a little bit,” he said. “It will subside pretty quickly.”
To learn more about the iPhone, check availability at local stores or try Apple Inc.’s free online workshops, visit www.apple.com/retail.
