A Sydney woman, Lucy Kelly, secured third spot in the queue at the Apple store in Sydney by using a robot which she operated from home.

Interviewed from home while the robot queued, she told Channel Nine: “I’m having a lovely morning. I fell asleep listening to the rain.”

"The people in line were so fabulous," she later said after speaking to them via the iPad.
Ms Kelly was able to work as normal on Thursday and avoided an unseasonal bout of cold and rain before purchasing the iPhone 6s on Friday. She works for a media agency, Atomic 212, which reportedly has a number of robots and assisted with the stunt, which has proven to be a public relations coup for both her firm and Apple.

Once payment was made, the Apple staff “just put my iPhones in a bag for me and hung it on my microphone”, she added

Ms Kelly then remotely wheeled her device out of the store and through Sydney's city centre where some of her colleagues were able to collect her phones for her.


Customers have been known to pay others to queue for them in the annual iPhone clamour but it is believed to be the first time a robot has joined the line.


Australia was one of the first markets in the global rollout of iPhones on Friday, which also included Hong Kong, Japan, and China.