Less waiting lines for new iPhone 3G S

This past Saturday, Apple and AT&T stores throughout the US opened their doors to sell the new Apple 3G S smartphone, but waiting lines were a lot shorter, compared to last years sales of the iPhone 3G.  Not that it wasn’t a success, the lines were just shorter because many consumers were allowed to pre-order their new iPhone and to have it shipped to them or to come to pick it up at a certain hour.
UPDATE: Apple reports that 1 million iPhones 3G S were sold by Sunday.

While the new iPhone went on sale in 8 international markets this weekend, China – one of the largest mobile subscriber markets in the world – was not among them.   After months of negociating between Apple and China Mobile over the distribution of the iPhone in China, the deal didn’t go through because the Chinese operator refused Apple’s demand of between 20% and 30% of the mobile revenues.  Now, Apple has closed a deal with China Unicom and hopes to introduce the iPhone in China by the end of 2009 or early next year.

Mobistar has announced that the iPhone 3G S will be available in Belgium next Friday, June 26th.

In other iPhone news: a survey by AdMob reveals that half of all iPhone and iPod Touch users use the mobile web more frequently than they read newspapers.   More than 40% also reports accessing the mobile web more often than browsing the Internet from their computers or listening to the radio.

Some interesting demographic differences between the two Apple devices:
– iPhone users are generally older: 31 % of iPhone users are between the ages of 35 and 49, while the same age segment represents just 12% of iPod touch users. By contrast, 69% of iPod touch users are between the ages of 13 and 24, while the same segment makes up only 26% of iPhone users. In total, 74% of iPhone users are over the age of 25, compared to 31% of iPod touch users.
– More than 70% of both iPhone and iPod touch users are male, while 46% of iPhone users have children, compared to 28% of iPod touch users.
– 78% of iPhone users claim an annual household income of at least $25,000, compared to 66% of iPod touch users.