LIHU‘E — Dozens of Kaua‘i residents waited in line starting early Tuesday to buy Apple’s new iPhone 4 at the AT&T store in Lihu‘e.
Emergency responders were called to the scene at one point in the morning due to a medical call that came in around 8:02 a.m., according to county spokeswoman Mary Daubert. Engine 3 responded and assisted medics with loading a 51-year-old male into an ambulance. He was taken to Wilcox Hospital for treatment.
The man was reportedly involved in an argument earlier with another person who was waiting in line.
Aside from that incident, there were smiles on the faces of people who were able to purchase the new must-have piece of technology.
Apple Inc. said Monday that it sold more than 1.7 million units of its new iPhone model in the first three days, making it the most successful product launch in the company’s history from the standpoint of sales.
The iPhone 4 went on sale Thursday in the U.S., Britain, France, Germany and Japan. High demand for the model caused shortages and unruly crowds at some stores.
“This is the most successful product launch in Apple’s history,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Even so, we apologize to those customers who were turned away because we did not have enough supply.”
Some stores sold out within hours. Analysts have said Apple is having a hard time procuring enough parts for the phone, such as its new higher-resolution screen. Apple has said the white iPhone it plans to produce has been more challenging than expected and won’t be available until late July. Only black models went on sale Thursday.
Apple sold more than 1 million units in the first three days when it launched last year’s model, the 3GS. Canada, Italy, Spain and Switzerland were then among the launch countries, but Japan was not.
Apart from the sharper screen, the iPhone 4 features a slimmer body and faster processor than the previous model, among other changes.
Shares of the Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple rose $1.60, or 0.6 percent, to $268.30 in trading Monday.
The iPhone 4 costs almost $20 more to make than its predecessor, the iPhone 3GS, but the device will still help the company continue to rack up high profits, the research group iSuppli said Monday.
After taking this latest Apple gadget apart and identifying the components, iSuppli estimated the cost of the parts totals $187.51. That’s more than the $170.80 iSuppli estimates for the cost of the materials inside the iPhone 3GS, Apple’s last-generation smart phone.
The estimates don’t include manufacturing, software, marketing and other costs.
The priciest part of the iPhone 4 is the new, higher-resolution LCD screen, which iSuppli estimates carries a cost of $28.50. Flash memory, which has been in short supply, costs $27. Apple’s processor, which was manufactured by Samsung, according to iSuppli, costs $10.75, and the capacitive touch screen costs $10.
Apple’s iPhones cost consumers $199 or $299 with a two-year wireless contract in the U.S., but such low prices as those are heavily subsidized by the wireless carriers.
Despite the major design overhaul Apple gave the iPhone, the gadget maker “will be able to maintain the prodigious margins that have allowed it to build up a colossal cash reserve,” said Kevin Keller, an iSuppli analyst, in a statement.
• The Associated Press contributed to this report.
