Hsu Wei-Chun stood in line for seven hours on Thursday to be the first person to receive Apple Inc.’s latest iPhone 4 at a Chunghwa Telecom sales event that kicked off at midnight in Taipei.

“It was a surprise to me because I thought others would have gotten there already,” the die-hard Apple fan told reporters early Friday after waiting since 5 p.m. the previous evening.

Hsu said he was not concerned about reports of a defect in the iPhone 4′s antenna design that could affect reception, as the large number of base stations in Taiwan ensures a good connection.

Hsu and hundreds like him helped the Taiwan debut of the iPhone 4 break a number of local records after the country’s major telecom operators splurged on advertising for the long-awaited device. It was the first time the telecom carriers in Taiwan began selling a cell phone at midnight.

Far EasTone sold 3,000 iPhone 4s between midnight and 6 a.m. at retailers throughout Taiwan, company spokeswoman Alison Kao said. Taiwan Mobile sold 600 iPhones, while Taiwan’s largest telecom operator, Chunghwa Telecom, restricted the initial sale of the device to just 400 pre-order clients. These were the best single-day figures compared to any other cell phone in the country.

Prices for the iPhone 4 varied from free to NT$14,900 (US$470) pending on what package the customers chose. An estimated 300,000 to 400,000 of the previous iPhone models — iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS — have sold in Taiwan, and retailers expect the sale of the iPhone 4 will double that of its predecessors.

More than 200,000 people in Taiwan have placed pre-orders for the phones, but the three major telecom operators can only offer 45,000 to 60,000 in the first batch. This seemed to be getting common, as many countries’ telcos are facing limited stock of iPhone 4 during launch days.

SOURCE via Focus Taiwan