Most of the general public, and certainly all those that are particularly interested in smartphones, know of the tractor beam-like pull of the iPhone. Apple devices are among the most sought after products in the world, eclipsed only by the most exclusive of designer clothing labels and cars. But among consumer electronics manufacturers there is no doubt that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) creates a street buzz and possesses a fashion cachet that few will ever come close to matching.
Thus, scenes of enthusiastic Apple devotees queuing round the block to get their hands on the new iPhone have become almost routine. With the last Apple handset setting new records in terms of sales for the iPhone range, we can certainly expect to see this again with the iPhone 6 when it is released in what analysts expect to be somewhere between June and September. There is every reason to believe that Apple’s iPhone 6 will even smash the records set by the iPhone 5S just last year.
But while the plans for the iPhone 6 haven’t even been officially revealed yet, and quite possibly not even finalized within Apple, one particular fan of Apple’s products is making sure he reserves his place in the queue with plenty of time to spare.
Yoppy starts iPhone 6 queue early
Apple may be looking to break new records with the iPhone 6, but a Japanese man who goes by the name of “Yoppy” has certainly set a new record for the earliest time to join the queue for an iPhone release. The Register reports that the Apple fanboy is taking things to rather ridiculous extremes by, according to him, queuing up for the iPhone 6 now, possibly seven months before the smartphone is released.
The man in question proudly boasts of having an email in English from both Brazilian and UK Apple news sites, although what the substance of this email was, one can only guess. Presumably it didn’t invite him to queue in the street for seven months, excellent though Apple handsets usually turn out to be. But it’s not enough for Yoppy to merely queue up for more than half a year to buy a phone. The Japanese man has also dressed as an iPhone while he’s doing it.
Far from suffering from mental deficiencies it turns out that this rather eccentric individual is in fact a blogger and performance artist. Obviously it’s highly debatable whether he will really remain in the non-existent queue for an iPhone for six months, and is instead engaging in what can merely be reasonably be described as a publicity stunt.
While Yoppy may feel that he is highlighting a certain absurdist element of the devotion with some people feel towards Apple devices, the corporation will doubtless view the issue through the prism that states “all publicity is good publicity”. This apparent performance art comes just days after a survey found that Apple users were consistently more loyal towards their devices than numerous other major smartphone manufacturers. This incredible brand loyalty and identification that Apple inspires is pure gold for any company, and it is something that every other company in the mobile market has struggled to compete with, or generate for its own products.
Whether this Japanese individual is an iPhone fan, or merely aping the behavior of those who are, it would be interesting to know if he has kept up with the latest Apple iPhone 6 rumors while out on the streets. When you’re dealing with the world’s most anticipated piece of tech there are always going to be a few leaks, rumors and concept images knocking about, and of course we’ve already seen all of these emerging with relation to the iPhone 6.
iPhone 6 images – fake or real?
The first images of the possible appearance of the device emerged just a couple of days ago, and though they are far from confirmed, they show the iPhone 6 looking as wafer-thin as one might expect (although it has already been plausibly claimed that these images are fake). Based on the spec leaks and rumors that we’ve heard so far, this is really looking to be a spectacular performer in the looks department, which in all honesty is the major factor which inspires the sort of immense loyalty and devotion that Yoppy is tapping into.
Apple faces a major challenge from Samsung this year, after the Samsung Galaxy S4 sold extremely well. The Galaxy S5 could conceivably outsell the iPhone 6, but Apple has repeatedly managed to produce something quite spectacular in numerous fields, with the iPhone, iPad and iPod pretty much defining the smartphone, tablet and digital music player fields respectively.
It will be interesting to see how this battle plays out as 2014 unfolds. However, we’re yet to see performance artists mimicking the phenomenon of crowds queuing round the block to secure Samsung smartphones.
Source: Yoppy Blog
