After months of hype, new Apple iPhones fly out the door.

Byline: Eric Florip The Register-Guard

At 8 a.m. Friday, 14-year-old Joe Brockmann arrived outside the AT&T retail store near Valley River Center to be Eugene's first iPhone owner. Exactly 10 hours and seven minutes later, he walked out the door to a round of applause.

Brockmann, from Eugene, was first in line at the much-anticipated debut of the do-it-all gadget, which combines the functions of a phone, media player and Internet browser into one device. The 6 p.m. release on Friday drew a crowd at both of Eugene's AT&T stores - the city's only iPhone sellers - with about 60 people queuing up at the Valley River store before the release. Store employees were unable to release official sales numbers, but AT&T regional manager Jon Biggins said both Eugene stores had sold their entire stock by 7 p.m.

The devices retailed for $499 for a 4-gigabyte version or $599 for an 8-gigabyte model, but those prices didn't stop eager buyers who had listened to months of hype and anticipation leading up to Friday.

"It started with a cup of change, and he said, 'I'm going to get an iPhone,' ' Joe's mother, Jody Brockmann, said. "That was eight months ago."

AT&T employees allowed only 11 customers inside the store at a time, enough to match the number of salespeople. At the door, another AT&T representative monitored a waiting list from the line.

Reasons varied for enduring hours of waiting for the device, but most people said they wanted it because of Apple's past successes and the product's multiple functions and touch-screen operation.

"It's the closest thing to magic I've ever seen in real life," said Eugene resident Ori Applebaum, who arrived about noon to line up for an iPhone.

Though most said they planned to keep the phone, a few others said they are treating their iPhones as a financial investment by selling them on eBay. Many iPhones were selling on the online auction Web site for more than $1,000 on Friday evening.

Walter Swartz of Eugene, who said he arrived at the Eugene store about 2 p.m., planned to do both: He bought one for himself but said he had a friend in line buying a second iPhone so they could jointly sell it and split the extra revenue.

"I'm pretty excited," Swartz said. "My dog actually chewed up my other phone yesterday."

The iPhone is offered exclusively to AT&T customers. Those who weren't customers by Friday were required to sign a two-year contract with the cellular provider before leaving the store.

Nationwide, the buzz was even louder than it was in Eugene.

Some bullish Wall Street analysts have predicted sales could hit as high as 45 million units in two years.

``That's nuts,'' said Rob Enderle, an industry analyst with The Enderle Group of San Jose, Calif. ``Apple will break (sales) records for a phone of this class, but selling tens of millions of units so quickly is going to be tough. First-generation products always have problems that you don't know about until the product ships.''

More likely, Enderle and other analysts said, Apple will grow iPhone sales by refining its models and improving the software features - much as it did with the iPod, which has fueled record profits for the company.

But unlike its foray into digital music players, Apple faces competition on the cell phone front from deep-pocketed, well-established giants such as Nokia Corp. and Motorola Inc.

Apple has not disclosed how many iPhones were available at its launch. But analysts expect it will sell out by early next week - between sales at retail stores and online through Apple's Web site, which has been a major distribution outlet for other Apple products.

In San Francisco, the queue outside the Apple store swelled to about 125 people Friday, with people sleeping on mattresses and cardboard and reclining in folding lawn chairs.

Lavon Smiley, a 36-year-old city bus driver, was one of several lingerers who said they avoided telling friends about waiting in line for fear of being ridiculed.

``I know my friends are going to be on me if they see me,'' he said. ``They'd think I'm crazy ... . But when I show them the iPhone, they'll have a whole different attitude.''

The Associated Press contributed to this report.