Christof Stache, AFP / Getty Images
Welcome to the world, iPhone 5. In spite of early criticism about the new model’s mapping features, buyers swarmed Apple stores around the world Friday— some after enduring lines up to 68 hours long. With opening day underway, the company looks poised to sell a record 10 million phones during its debut. Global sales began at 8:00 a.m. Friday in Sydney, where over 600 consumers waited anxiously outside the flagship store. Customers in Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany, France and Great Britain lined up too, with reports calling the 1,297-person line outside London’s Regent Street Apple the longest in retail history. Meanwhile, Apple Inc. has issued a statement vowing to improve its mapping application, a “cloud-based solution” that the company says will work better the more people use it.