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The good news is that Apple certainly isn't just shipping iPhones and nothing else. It wouldn't surprise me (if we hold the assumption that Apple charters plane
by NamTaf 12y ago
The good news is that Apple certainly isn't just shipping iPhones and nothing else. It wouldn't surprise me (if we hold the assumption that Apple charters planes themselves for freight) that Apple also mixes their freight (i.e.: heavy iPhones and lighter 'other stuff') precisely to optimise this problem. That's Cook's bread and butter, after all.
For other operators of lower volume, of course outsourcing that problem represents a win-win for both customer and supplier. The customer gets overall lower costs of freight and the supplier leverages their breadth of sources to make a cut of the difference they can save. It's a good example of where outsourcing certain tasks can make sense for some parties but not others.
- zachrose 12y agoI wonder what the lighter 'other stuff' would be from Apple. Store window displays and boxes of software? Do they still sell software in boxes?
- floppydisk 12y agoLittle things like cables, headphones, and other accessories that don't take up a lot of weight but could be packaged voluminously to fill the remaining space.
- bigiain 12y agoTraditionally, in the airline industry, the answer was "tulips". Out of China it looks like it might be roses: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/business/worldbusiness/25flower.html http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/25/business/worldbusiness/25f...
- thedogeye 12y agoI'd venture that the odds of Apple having a product that is the best available match for its cargo is very low. The more scale and diversity you have, the better your mix. There are real economies of scale in air freight resulting from this.