SAN FRANCISCO — At the Apple store on Fifth Avenue in New York, the first in line had already camped out earlier this week. Sightings of the device already in the possession of a privileged few were being reported, even photographed and posted on the Internet. Rumors have it that shipments are arriving in the dark of night, accompanied by armed guards.

All this for a cell phone. Steve Jobs, known for his marketing wizardry, has apparently convinced thousands of people that the Apple iPhone is no ordinary phone. But even those accustomed by now to the Apple chief executive's well-orchestrated product rollouts are struck by the frisson of anticipation he has managed to generate.

By one estimate, two-thirds of the population of the United States seem to be aware of the device, which combines a cell phone with an iPod with Internet access. It will finally be available Friday evening — but only to those willing to wait in lines that promise to stretch for blocks. Wall Street analysts expect Apple and its partner AT&T to sell about 3 million phones within the first weeks

"It's masterful when you really think about it," said Jeremy Horwitz, the editor-in-chief of iLounge, a popular online publication read by iPod and iTunes users. "Ask yourself how many companies can announce a product six months in advance and not just sustain public interest but even build the frenzy. It's staggering to me."

The pre-introduction product hype and hysteria is not new, of course. Just ask any 12-year-old Harry Potter fan or middle-age Star Wars cultist. Last year, video game addicts slept on sidewalks outside Sony stores to be the first to buy the PlayStation 3.

But ever since Apple first let the world know about the Macintosh computer in 1984, with its Super Bowl commercial, the company has become the standard bearer in drum-roll marketing for consumer electronics.

Trent Lapinski, 20, a Web developer in Huntington Beach, Calif., has spent hours systematically researching the best store to find the device. Late last week, he drove to four AT&T and Apple stores in an effort to find an advantage.

An employee at an AT&T store tipped off Lapinski to another AT&T store tucked into a new housing development where no one has moved in yet. "They told me there probably won't be anyone there, so maybe I'll take my chances there," he said.

Ismail Elshareef, 31, a software engineer in Los Angeles, has his equipment — sleeping bag, sleeping pad, camping chair, sweatshirt, sweat pants, breath mints and Chuck Palahniuk novel — and strategy in place. On Saturday, he switched phone service from T-Mobile to AT&T. He planned to go to the Apple store at a nearby mall Wednesday night, and if a line were already forming, he planned to join it. If not, he planned to return today at 5 a.m.