After hitting store shelves in South Korea last week, Apple's iPhone 5 is making its debut today in 33 countries, including China.

After hitting store shelves in South Korea last week, Apple's iPhone 5 is making its debut today in 33 countries, including China.

In Beijing, a snowy morning and competitive pre-registration lottery made for an uncharacteristically low turnout, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. When the store opened its doors at 8 a.m. on Friday, just two customers were waiting outside.

The situation was similar in Shanghai's financial district, where just one person was waiting in line for the device when the Apple store there opened its doors, Reuters reported. Things seemed to be a bit more exciting at the Apple store in Shanghai's Hong Kong Plaza on Huaihai Road, where around 50 people turned up ready to buy the device, according to Emerging Money.

Shoppers in China typically turn out in droves to get their hands on the latest Apple gadgets. In the run-up to Apple's iPhone 4S release in China this past January, massive crowds and several violent outbursts at the company's Beijing store forced the Cupertino tech giant to in the area. As a result, the company put in place a reservation system, which required people to sign up for a specific pick-up time.

It appears that many people skipped the line and ordered online, judging by the number of pre-orders. Mobile carrier China Unicom said it received 300,000 iPhone 5 pre-orders in one week on its network alone.

Besides China, the iPhone 5 is launching today in Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela.

In Malaysia, at least, the iPhone 5 launch drew long lines and high excitement, according to early reports.

For more, see and the slideshow above.