Shipping by June 19th - Question can it be done ?

[JPIndustrie]

I bet that thousands of people pre ordered. Do you really think the shipping company can handle that many shipments for the 19th ? Or will people get them before that ?

I don't think it's so much the shipping company rather than Apple.

Nobody remembers last year? People who did direct fulfillment waited anywhere from days to weeks for their iPhones to arrive due to shortages at the AT&T distribution centers. It doesn't matter how fast the shipping company can move, if there isn't any product to ship nothing will go out.

O, and I wouldn't believe any time estimates from AT&T. I base that on experience.

 

[Mr.Shin]

Anyway...

I can't wait Jun 19th!!

 

[jmh0523]

What about on the ATT side of preordering to be sent to your home?

ATT's gig states all preorders taken online are being handled first come first served - and - ships with overnight priority - processed to arrive as early as june 19th -- actual shipment date and receipt of order not guaranteed and may be subject to delays for reasons that include ...yadada availability, inventory carrier delays

Bah I went through ATT, I hope they can deliver like apple is promising -- im leaving the following day so man I hope it comes the 19th >< would be fun to toy with while flying and such


edit: kinda like JPIndustrie says haha cant trust ATT on their time estimates... wondering if I should had went through apple.com (had that family plan error and just slept on it and waited for ATT to start their preorders before finding that text plan fix)

 

[uberamd]

edit: kinda like JPIndustrie says haha cant trust ATT on their time estimates... wondering if I should had went through apple.com (had that family plan error and just slept on it and waited for ATT to start their preorders before finding that text plan fix)

You probably should have, I did that text thing and it worked flawlessly. Apple assures customers it will arrive on the 19th.

 

[Interstella5555]

Can't be any worse than the last delivery day before Christmas.

It would be interesting though to know the logistics of this.

+1. I'm surprised that people somehow think shipping the 3GS is somehow going to cripple FedEx.

 

[uberamd]

+1. I'm surprised that people somehow think shipping the 3GS is somehow going to cripple FedEx.

I think the real question is when will Apple stop taking orders online for the 3G S and promising delivery by the 19th. Given the stores they are deploying to, they can't possibly have an unlimited supply and just keep assuring everyone who orders that they will get it on the 19th, can they?

 

[bjquach]

I think the real question is when will Apple stop taking orders online for the 3G S and promising delivery by the 19th. Given the stores they are deploying to, they can't possibly have an unlimited supply and just keep assuring everyone who orders that they will get it on the 19th, can they?

Exactly. But I think Apple has more stock reserved in their warehouses than Apple stores. I believe apple has it under control. They'll keep taking orders, but sooner or later, the delivery date will change from the 19th to probably like the 23rd or something. That's because it will now take time to restock.

 

[Interstella5555]

I think the real question is when will Apple stop taking orders online for the 3G S and promising delivery by the 19th. Given the stores they are deploying to, they can't possibly have an unlimited supply and just keep assuring everyone who orders that they will get it on the 19th, can they?

Remember there's a difference between release date and when you receive it. Apple will release the 3GS on the 19th, but that doesn't mean they are shipping it on the 17th so people will receive it on the 19th; more than likely they'll ship on the 19th and arrive the 23rd/24th.

 

[nikhsub1]

Remember there's a difference between release date and when you receive it. Apple will release the 3GS on the 19th, but that doesn't mean they are shipping it on the 17th so people will receive it on the 19th; more than likely they'll ship on the 19th and arrive the 23rd/24th.

No. Apple has corrected this and is emphatic that the 3GS phones pre ordered from them will ARRIVE on the 19th to customers, not ship out on the 19th. In my order status it says: Ships: Delivers by June 19th

 

[uberamd]

No. Apple has corrected this and is emphatic that the 3GS phones pre ordered from them will ARRIVE on the 19th to customers, not ship out on the 19th. In my order status it says: Ships: Delivers by June 19th

+1. Thats exactly what it says, otherwise I wouldn't have made my point.

 

[huck500]

... iPhone 3G Ss (is that the plural of 3G S??)

I'd go with 3G S iPhones or maybe iPhones 3G S if you want to sound snobby...

 

[PoitNarf]

+1. I'm surprised that people somehow think shipping the 3GS is somehow going to cripple FedEx.

It is funny, isn't it? I doubt they'll sell more than 200,000 in the first week and FedEx wouldn't have any problem dealing with 1/2 of those being shipped directly to customers.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/435343.html

FedEx reported an average daily express package volume of 3,167,000 for the fiscal year ended May 2004, with U.S. volume of 2,771,000.

 

[redman042]

Here's how I think this works behind the scenes. First, FedEx (or whomever they use) is highly capable of handling this, as everyone has pointed out. Second, I'm sure given the size of the shipment that Apple has a FedEx shipping logistics manager assigned to them to plan this whole thing out. Their shipping costs probably depend on how much time Apple gives them to move the packages. Ideally, Apple would be delivering packages to them now, or starting within the next few days, and continuously until the 18th. FedEx would then have plenty of time to move pallets of phones to regional and local distribution centers, and they'd do it based on economics (ie. when one of their planes has plenty of extra space, they'd go ahead and put a couple pallets of phones on it). In the end they'd queue pallets of phones at the local distribution warehouses, where they'd sit until the 19th when they are loaded on trucks for final delivery to customers.

Alternatively this could all happen within the last few days before the delivery date, and it would just cost more. But I think the result is the same - get them to the local warehouses right away, then wait until the 19th to send them out on trucks.

Or, if we're REALLY lucky, maybe they'll send some out on the 18th just to spread the workload a little (I highly doubt it, but one can hope).