Apple fans jammed
shops from Sydney to Tokyo on September 21 to pick up the tech
juggernaut's latest iPhone 5.
Hundreds of people waited in line from early morning to be among the first to get their hands on the highly anticipated phone.
The first customers in Hong Kong were greeted by
staff cheering, clapping, chanting "iPhone 5! iPhone 5!" and high-fiving them as they were escorted one-by-one through the front door.
Order numbers indicate the iPhone 5 has
overcome initial lukewarm reviews .
Apple received 2 million orders in the first 24 hours of announcing iPhone 5's release date, more than twice the number for the iPhone 4S in the same period when that phone launched a year ago.
The smartphone was launched in the US, UK, Canada, France and Germany, apart from Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. It will go on sale in 22 more countries a week later.
An Apple employee celebrates the release of the iPhone 5 with his co-workers outside the Fifth Avenue Apple store in New York on September 21. Hundreds of people waited in line from early morning to be among the first to get their hands on the highly anticipated phone.
Greg Packer, 49, celebrates as he enters the Fifth Avenue Apple store in New York for the release of the iPhone 5. Order numbers indicate the iPhone 5 has overcome initial lukewarm reviews.
Ecstatic Apple fans outside a store in Tokyo. Analysts have estimated Apple will ship as many as 10 million of the new iPhones by the end of September.
A consumer captures the celebration on his Apple iPad as he enters the Apple store in New York for the release of the iPhone 5.
PHOTOS: Associated Press 
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