iPhone 4S Starts Selling in Australia & Japan: Lines & Server Troubles Ensured

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In some regions of the world it’s already October 14 which means the iPhone 4S has already started selling. This is the case for Australia and Japan where anxious customers are eagerly waiting to get their next-gen iPhone.

Australia

The Next Web reported that customers are already picking-up pre-orders but the process is not as smooth as they’d like it to be all thanks to servers that aren’t able to cope with demand. This time around we’re looking at Telstra servers “attacked” by a flood of activation requests. In other words while you may have already received your iPhone 4S unit chances are that it will take a while to have it up and running.

In the mean time you could always read more about the new operating system and see what playing with Siri looks like while you wait for servers to do their proper job. Those of you that have purchased previous iPhone versions on their launch day are probably expecting server-related issues today, caused by Apple or carrier servers. In fact, considering the increased demand for the iPhone 4S this year we may witness similar issues in several markets in the following hours.

Japan

MacRumors reported earlier that over 100 people were waiting in front of the Shibuya Apple retail store for the iPhone 4S. Apparently some customers interested in buying Apple’s fifth-generation device have patiently waited for up to 11 hours to get their hands on this highly anticipated device. The video below shows what waiting in line for the iPhone 4S looks like in Japan.

Other markets

Five other markets are going to start selling the iPhone in the following hours: France, Germany, UK, Canada and USA.

iPhone 4S buyers in France and the UK are also apparently lining up in front of local Apple stores while Apples’ co-founder Steve Wozniak is apparently the first person in line at the Gatos retail store in California. Apple has already confirmed that it sold 1 million iPhone 4S units in the first pre-order day and the company is believed to sell up to 3 million units in the first weekend. Therefore we may see plenty of lines and under-performing servers in the following hours.

What about you, have you pre-ordered your iPhone 4S unit yet or are you interested in buying one in-store? Are you waiting in any line yet?