Outside the Cingular Wireless store on Dairy Road, emotions ran high as some iPhone hopefuls who had waited hours for the 6 p.m. sale to begin accused other customers of cutting in line or reserving extra seats for people who were not present.

"The atmosphere is getting intimidating," said Waihee resident Michael Doherty as he waited outside the store Friday afternoon.

In preparation for the release, extra security was on hand at some of the larger Oahu stores to manage the crowds. But that was not the case outside the Kahului store.

Crowd control fell into the hands of customers, as one couple took it upon themselves to record the names of the first 50 people in line.

"It's amazing nothing happened yet because this could've gotten really out of hand," said Doherty. "What I think is really outrageous is that they're letting nonemployees regulate and boss the crowd around."

Officials at AT&T, which acquired Cingular, were not immediately available for comment.

Cingular stores opened for business at 9 a.m. Friday, then closed from 4:30 to 6 p.m. to prepare for the iPhone launch. When the doors opened at 6 p.m., only four customers were allowed in the store at a time.

The first person on Maui to purchase the iPhone was Paukukalo resident Richie Olsten. He was welcomed by a cheering crowd as he emerged from the store carrying a sealed package with his new iPhone inside.

"Look, I got chicken skin," he said as he showed his iPhone to a curious crowd of onlookers.

"This is really cool. It definitely exceeds my expectations," he said, grinning broadly.

Olsten earned his phone by waiting since 8:30 a.m. Thursday, prepared to stay there overnight and half a day for the new must-have device. He came equipped with a laptop computer with wireless Internet connection, a lawn chair, a folding table and an oversized umbrella. He waited – and waited, and said the nearly 34 hours he spent was worth it.

"My wife thinks I'm nuts, but I told myself months ago I gotta have this phone," Olsten said.

Potential customers were prepared to shell out either $499 for a 4-gigabyte model or $599 for an 8-gigabyte model. Store representatives did not disclose the total number of iPhones available on Friday.

A self-described "gadget guy," Olsten owns a BlackBerry, which he said will be promptly replaced by his latest piece of technology.

"People were complaining about the price (of the iPhone), but for 100 dollars more than a BlackBerry, it's worth it," Olsten said.

Doherty agreed.

"Considering how far advanced it is compared to everything else on the market, I realized how cheap it is. It's a highly advanced iPod; it's also a digital camera and it's a telephone," he said.

Customers at Apple retail stores throughout the country were allowed to purchase two phones per person, but the Cingular Wireless on Maui allowed just one phone per person.

"If we could've bought two today, I would've bought two," Doherty said.

Lehia Apana can be reached at lehia@mauinews.com.