A security guard told iPod User's Andy Penfold: "A handful of people were queuing outside at about 5.30am. They were served quite quickly at 8am. There has been no queuing since."

The security guard predicted that their may be a rush at lunch time as office workers make their way to the store to purchase the new iPhone 3G S, and indeed Apple Store staff were much busier fielding iPhone questions by 11:30.

At the O2 store on London's Oxford Street, demand is more steady - there is currently a 45-minute wait and the only customers being allowed into the store are those who are buying a new iPhone. Most people appear to be new to the iPhone, as opposed to paying for an upgrade.

Charlie Bennett, a digital matte painter, joined the queue at around 11:15. "I haven't had an iPhone before - I've waited for a better model with all the bugs fixed. And the price is now more within my reach and I can justify it to my missus."

Another punter in the queue, Ben Butterfield, who works in recruitment, had also held off from buying an iPhone until now. "I didn't get the first one because it had no 3G. Then when the next one came out I was in a contract, but that has expired at about the same time that the 3G S was released, so I'm going to get the latest one."