Apple mania unabated as fans scramble for iPhone 4

Apple fans queued overnight in their hundreds outside stores in Europe and Japan to snap up the latest iPhone, as the technology giant set a new benchmark in the hard-fought and fast-growing smart phone market.

The iPhone 4 makes possible video calls, can handle multiple tasks simultaneously and has longer battery life than previous versions -- adding specifications that some rivals already have to its iconic design appeal.

It sold a record 600,000 in pre-orders in a single day last week, and BGC analyst Colin Gillis expects Apple to set a record for being the first company to sell a million smart phones in a single day.

For the current quarter, which ends on Saturday, analysts expect Apple to sell 8-9 million iPhones, including sales of older models. Analysts expect Apple to ship 10 million or more a quarter, as output ramps up to meet demand.

Apple's latest salvo in the battle for the smart phone market, which IT research firm Gartner expects to grow 46% this year over last year's 172 million units, comes as rivals based on Google's Android software gather steam.

Analysts estimate that Android's 4% of the market last year will grow to 11 percent this year, while Apple's share is seen steady at 14%.

Still, Apple's cult status remains undented.

Queuing for an iPhone 4 outside the Apple store in San Francisco, 31-year-old Joseph Lobato said: "I haven't slept in 30 hours."

"I'm in line to replace the first generation [iPhone] that I ridiculously stood in line for the first time, and am ridiculously standing in line again."

Meanwhile, top phone maker Nokia's smart phone strategy has faltered recently, while BlackBerry maker Research in Motion -- due to report results later on Thursday -- has been losing momentum.

In Paris, Apple aficionados began queuing at lunchtime on Wednesday for a midnight iPhone launch at France Telecom's flagship Champs Elysees store.