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Hundreds buy the iPhone 5 in Paris (pictures)

Apple's larger, faster iPhone was a hot commodity at Apple's Opera store in Paris. Along with the new customers came a swarm of reporters, along with union officials trying to get better benefits for Apple employees.

Stephen Shankland
Stephen Shankland worked at CNET from 1998 to 2024 and wrote about processors, digital photography, AI, quantum computing, computer science, materials science, supercomputers, drones, browsers, 3D printing, USB, and new computing technology in general. He has a soft spot in his heart for standards groups and I/O interfaces. His first big scoop was about radioactive cat poop.
Stephen Shankland
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iPhone 5 on sale in Paris

Mikhail Vorobyev, one of the early customers to buy an iPhone 5 at Apple's store in Paris, shows off his new purchase.
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iPhone 5 customer in Paris

Waiting in line overnight to buy an iPhone 5 is an event to be remembered, not a mere purchase. Here, one customer in Paris uses her older iPhone to take a sweeping video of the line and the store.
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Home stretch

Just before the door to the Apple store is the home stretch for several hundred people who came to buy an iPhone 5 at the Paris Apple store.
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First iPhone 5 customer in Paris

Anthony Fitch holds the first iPhone 5 sold in Paris Apple stores. He waited in line about 40 hours to get the phone.
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iPhone 5 line

The bulk of the line to buy an iPhone 5 at the Paris Apple store wound back and forth between metal barriers.
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iPhone 5 customer in Paris

The press interviews Valentine Nassonov at the arrival of the iPhone 5 in Paris Apple stores.
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iPhone 5 on sale in Paris Apple store

iPhone 5 customers check out the options at Apple's store in Paris.
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Hawking the wares

Where better to find iPhone accessory customers than an iPhone 5 line? Here a representative for Sculpteo pitches custom iPhone cases that feature a cutout sihouette of the customer's profile.
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Preaching the unionization gospel at the iPhone 5 launch

Laurent Degousee, secretary of the Solidaires Unitaires Democratiques (SUD) union, stands before the Paris Opera house as the iPhone 5 goes on sale in France's capitol. He was trying to encourage new membership, to get Apple to improve working conditions and raise employee pay, and to mark a strike of 40 Apple employees. The strike didn't seem to slow Apple sales.
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Union protest leaflets

Representatives and memberes of the Solidaires Unitaires Democratiques (SUD) union were at the iPhone 5 launch in Paris to try to win allies for the cause. This is a box of leaflets explaining a strike at the store that didn't disrupt iPhone sales.
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Applause for iPhone 5 buyer

Apple employees applaud iPhone 5 customers as they leave the Apple store in Paris.
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iPhone 5 on sale in Paris

Mikhail Vorobyev becomes a minor celebrity for news media gathered to cover the arrival of the iPhone 5 in Paris Apple stores.
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Head of the iPhone 5 line in Paris

The head of the queue of several hundred people who came to buy an iPhone 5 at the Paris Apple store
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Paris Opera house scultpure

Bored waiting in the iPhone 5 line in Paris? You can always gaze upon the golden statuary across the road.
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Paris Opera house

Lyres adorn the Paris Opera house across the street from Apple's flagship store in France.
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iPhone 5 buyer

A new iPhone 5 customer emerges from an Apple store in Paris.
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iPhone 5 line in Paris

Along the side of the Apple store in Paris, the iPhone 5 line stretched back and forth several times, crossed the street, and continued around the next corner.

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