New Apple Device In Route To US?

[MacRumors]

Apple's hotly anticipated 3G iPhone may be en route to the US according to analysis by ImportGenius.com.

Since mid-March, Apple Inc. and its logistics partners have imported 188 ocean containers of a product type never before declared on its shipping manifests. [...] On March 19 Quanta delivered 20 ocean containers of merchandise, described on the Bills of Lading as "electric computers," to Apple, Inc. Neither Apple, Quanta, nor any other company has ever used this product description for any shipments to the U.S. [...] Over the last few months shipments of "desktop computers" and other devices did not fall off, indicating that these "electric computers" represent a new product for the company rather than a simple renaming for their Customs declarations.

The site speculates that the term "electric computers" refers to the new iPhone. While this may be, there have also been rumors of a new device that may see a WWDC launch.

Interestingly one of the shipments of the "electric computers" reportedly weighed in at 7140 kg for 504 units. This would mean each unit weighs approximately 14 kg or 30 lbs, although it is unclear whether the shipping container weight itself is included. It would also be surprising if the 3G iPhone would have been completed and shipping as early as March.

ImportGenius.com is new to the Apple rumor scene, and the reliability of their information is unknown at this time. ImportGenius is a web application that allows businesses to search international trade records, according to CrunchBase.

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[~Shard~]

I think it would be great that with all the hype surrounding the 3G iPhone, Jobs surprises everyone with another device that no one saw coming.

[coolfactor]

June is going to be exciting! But why just the US?

[MacFan782040]

whoa 30 lbs each? Maybe we'll see something new in June, or maybe this represents a whole package grouping of iPhones?

[jerrell Q.]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

Is there a way to find out how much these containers weigh? Lets see some numbers! On a totally unrelated note, did anyone here pass math class...

[Eraserhead]

X-Mac?

[longofest]

Originally Posted by MacFan782040

whoa 30 lbs each? Maybe we'll see something new in June, or maybe this represents a whole package grouping of iPhones?

possibly a pallet, yes.

[decimortis]

well that was just a drop of blood in a shark tank wasn't it?

[longofest]

Originally Posted by jerrell Q.

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU like Mac OS X; en) AppleWebKit/420.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/3.0 Mobile/4A102 Safari/419.3)

Is there a way to find out how much these containers weigh? Lets see some numbers! On a totally unrelated note, did anyone here pass math class...

Here's some tare weights, but there's no way of knowing which one Apple used.

[rockstarjoe]

Remember when the first iphone arrived in armored cars with armed guards? That was awesome.

EDIT: Don't those dates sound too early to be the iphone? March?

[madrobby]

Probably the new iPhone can brew coffee.

[AlphaAnt]

Hmm, if each 30 lb unit is appx 30 iPhones (declaring an iphone with packaging weighs a pound, that's just my rough estimate) that's ~2.8 million iPhones. Considering they're predicting 11 million for the year, that might be about right.

[Eraserhead]

According to Wikipedia a container weighs 2200kg when empty, so if the weight given includes the container then it is 7140-2200kg=4940kg

This works out as 9.8kg an item (21.6 pounds in old units).

[Trip.Tucker]

Originally Posted by ~Shard~

I think it would be great that with all the hype surrounding the 3G iPhone, Jobs surprises everyone with another device that no one saw coming.

Like the Pippin 2 ?

[EagerDragon]

Regardless of weight, 504 units is a very low number of items for one of these containers if the size of the boxes are anywhere twice the size of a normal iPhone box.

Sounds like some kind of computer and not an iPhone, the bulk size and weight point to an item other than an iPhone.

Maybe that Mini-Tower that a lot of people are looking for!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Eraserhead

According to Wikipedia a container weighs 2200kg when empty, so if the weight given includes the container then it is 7140-2200kg=4940kg

This works out as 9.8kg an item (21.6 pounds in old units).

If you then eliminate the weight for packaging, that becomes around 17 pounds.
What weights 15 to 19 pounds in their inventory?

[gkarris]

(runs off to hide credit cards....)

[Rot'nApple]

Originally Posted by MacFan782040

whoa 30 lbs each? Maybe we'll see something new in June, or maybe this represents a whole package grouping of iPhones?

Steve said the iPhone didn't go 3G until phone usage times could get back up in the 5 to 6 hour range... that 30 lbs is the iPhone with new larger capacity battery to ensure that 5 to 6 hours!

Know what they are going to call those new arm muscles people will obtain lugging a 30 lb iPhone up to their ears???? Are you ready....

iCeps!

Edit: I know... CHEEEEEZZZZZYYYY, as I get yanked off stage with massive hook... It's the weekend, folks!

[bacaramac]

If there was a new "tablet" the box would be tiny. Look at the Air. My guess is the 504 is a grouping of something (iphones, tablets, new item).

[David G.]

Originally Posted by EagerDragon

Maybe that Mini-Tower that a lot of people are looking for!!!!!!!!

That's what I'm thinking.

[Spock]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.0) BlackBerry8100/4.2.0 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/100)

Ibet Apple teamed up with starbucks and is releasing a new Mac OS X based coffee maker

[MadCow42]

A 20-foot standard shipping container weighs 2300kg - 3750kg for a 40-footer. So, even after subtracting that it's way too much weight for 530 units (9.13kg or 6.4kg per unit respectively).

Even so - the quantity proves it on its own. 530 iPhone boxes would fit on a pallet almost (assuming they're about the same size as today). They wouldn't use a full shipping container for a single pallet.

So - either the quantity is wrong, or it's not iPhones.

MadCow.

[nagromme]

I hope this means the end of steam computers. Long overdue.

(Maybe some of those numbers are typos... or else it's some kind of equipment for use in retail stores, factories, customer service, or some other specialized thing that isn't for sale or made by Apple?)

[g8bo]

94'752 units! not bad!

[Sbrocket]

ITT: Powerbook G5 discussion.

[saxamoophone]

Originally Posted by coolfactor

June is going to be exciting! But why just the US?

Well there's no way to know what the rest of the World is getting....

But I think it's a safe bet that the U.S. ( & Canada ) will always get Apple products first. After all, if YOU were the one to release a product wouldn't you want to be able to play with it youself?