SF yawns at Verizon iPhone launch (photos)

With the launch of the long-awaited, much-hyped Verizon iPhone this morning, I was expecting to see at least a few dozen people lined up outside the Apple Store in San Francisco.

When I arrived around dawn, though, there were just two people in line at the Stockton Street store, along with two police officers and a few Apple employees waiting with coffee and hundreds of donuts.

There were more journalists on hand than customers when I arrived at 6:45 a.m. PT.

At the closest Verizon store--just around the corner and less than a block away on Market Street--there were fewer than 10 customers waiting in line, minutes before the store opened at 7 a.m. PT.

The line at the Verizon store on Market Street in downtown San Francisco.

As the 7 a.m. opening neared, a few more customers showed up.

TV news crews lined up outside the Market Street Verizon store to cover the release of the iPhone.

The first customers inside the Verizon Store to purchase an iPhone on the Verizon network.

Waiting in Verizon line along Market Street in San Francisco at 7 a.m. PT.

Although the lines in San Francisco to buy the iPhone on Verizon were short and the immediate demand low, Verizon is expected to sell millions of iPhones this year.

Back at the Apple Store, enthusiastic employees at the entrance continued to applaud as the few who showed up to buy the iPhone trickled out for the store with their newest smartphone.

Considering this morning's lackluster launch, will Verizon hit the 10 million mark this year? We'll see.