Apple's new iPad tablet computer drew a muted response from fans in Europe after smaller crowds than previous launches turned out in Asia for a device that is short on new technology.

Fans queuing in Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Frankfurt and London praised the improved display, and did not seem concerned that its much-vaunted 4G LTE connection would be largely unavailable outside North America.

Apple's online shop in the United States quickly sold out of iPads for delivery on Friday and began telling buyers they will have to wait several weeks to get their hands on one.

Despite the anticipation, the excitement surrounding earlier releases was largely absent, with the crush seen in Hong Kong for the iPhone 4S reduced to a fraction and Tokyo's long queue all but gone by mid-morning.

In London, there were several hundred people queuing when Europe's largest Apple store opened for business but the queue was also smaller than for previous launches.

Dipak Varsani, a 21-year-old student from London who was first in line, said he had been camped outside the office with two friends for more than 24 hours, since 0100 GMT on Thursday.

"I've got an iMac and an iPhone; but this is my first iPad. I'm an Apple guy -- I like Apple's applications, its simplicity -- I don't mind paying the premium for that," said Varsani.

Luciana Rolesu, 42, an Italian woman living in London, said she had been queueing for around five hours to buy iPads for her boyfriend and his boss.

"I was here last year for the new iPhone. The queue was much longer, it was crazy, really crazy," she said.

There were only four people waiting outside the Apple store in the German financial hub of Frankfurt, accompanied by two television crews.

The new tablet is being released in Australia, the United States, France, Canada, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Switzerland, Britain and Hong Kong on Friday.

The latest version has a more powerful processor and the key upgrade of an eye-grabbing screen resolution, or Retina display, which Apple says is the sharpest ever on a mobile device.

In Sydney, where the planet's first sales began, only one person had taken his place in the queue by mid-afternoon Thursday -- and he was being paid to be there.

Around 50 people queued in Tokyo. Ryo Takahashi, 25, who arrived at the Tokyo store wearing a head band saying "I am an iPad samurai!" said the new Retina display was a good enough reason to queue up.

"Once you start using the Retina display, you just cannot go back to the old one," Takahashi said.

Anticipation ahead of the launch saw Apple shares briefly top $600 for the first time on Wall Street Thursday before closing at $585.56. The stock has gained more than 50 percent in the past three months.

In Singapore there were cheers when the authorised reseller stocking the iPad opened its doors, with staff handing out t-shirts emblazoned with "I GOT MY NEW IPAD".

At the plush Hong Kong Apple store, which had seen chaotic scenes for previous Apple product releases, around 200 buyers who had reserved online were allowed to queue outside.

The launch of the iPhone 4S in November saw more than 1,500 fans and resellers camping outside the Hong Kong store days before release, with police called in to control the crowd.

Australia was the first place to get the new device -- for which Apple has abandoned its numbering system, opting to call it simply the "new iPad" instead of the expected "iPad3".

Several hundred people gathered outside the company's Sydney store when it opened at 8:00 am local time (2100 GMT Thursday).

But the hype for Friday's launch was not on the scale seen for iPad2, when people began camping out up to four days before.

Former truck driver Steve Parkes was the lone early bird, beginning his vigil on Monday after being offered Aus$950 (US$1,000) by a jobs site to line up wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the employment company's logo.

Pranabesh Nath, research manager with Frost and Sullivan consultancy said Apple could probably expect to sell up to 70 million new iPads, with 15-20 percent of them in the Asia-Pacific market.

While the almost cult-like status of Apple shows no signs of waning among consumers, he suggested that with Apple co-founder Steve Jobs now dead the momentum could start to taper off.

Jobs, the mind behind the wildly popular iPod, iPad and iPhone devices, died in October after battling pancreatic cancer.