Gurgaon : More than 100 people gathered here to catch a glimpse of Apple's much awaited 3G iPhone.

Twenty-three-year-old Swati became the first buyer of the iconic handset. She bought the 8 GB version of the phone.

The phone is priced at Rs 31,000 for 8GB version and Rs 36,100 for 16 GB version.

An MBA (final) year student has been an ardent follower of the Apple brand. she alrady owns an iPod and a Laptop by the same brand.

'I wanted to buy the Apple iPod because of the applications available and the Apple brand as well' she said.

Swati had been waiting at the venue since six in the evening and was thrilled to know that she was the first customer.

	Many had turned up with their children and teenagers to probably gift them their first phone.

The phone has received a rave response throughout the six cities where the phone was made available at the stroke of midnight.

People in the cities thronged the launch venue to catch a glimpse of the phone at Delhi, Mumbai, kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Bharti Airtel had received 2 lakh pre-booking orders.

Within the first of opening sales about 20 handsets were sold in the city itself, the 16 GB (black) being the most popular.

Another buyer Abishek Singh, who owns a software firm got a handset not just for himself but his wife as well.

'I just love Apple product. I was waiting eagerly for the launch of the iPhone in India' he said.

He has bought 16 GB version, in both the colours.

Though Airtel did not disclose the anticipated sales, the company remains hopeful of sales to pick up further specially looking at the the sheer number of people who turned up.

Though the phone is being bought by people from affluent families youngsters seemed more keen on buying the product.

Many had turned up with their children and teenagers to probably gift them their first phone.

Another interesting point to note was that most buyers were prevously using nokia handset swati was using the Nokia 6600 while Abishek was using another basic model from the Nokia stable.

Over all india seems to have woken up to the idea of the high end phones and prices do not seem to be a barrier. Atleast for the todays use.

Tags: 3g iphone, apple, ipod, airtel, software, nokia, cellphones, india, 3g apple iphone.