My iPhone 5 is stuck in Korea. Why hasn’t it shipped to me yet? surely there is enough space on the plane for one more iPhone right?
Math follows.
My iPhone is shipping via UPS, so let us assume they are using a Boeing 747-400 Freighter. The total capacity of this plane for freight is 27,467 cubic feet.
I don’t have an iPhone yet, so I don’t have a shipping box to compare, but a previous box was 131 cubic inches.
The 747 space of 27,467 cubic feet or 47,462,976 cubic inches.
That means that 362,312 iPhone cases can fit in one fully loaded, stretched out 747-400, assuming you even use the bulk cargo space.
However the plane can only carry 273,300 pounds of cargo. So each iPhone, plus all the packing materials must be less than 12 ounces. The weight of the iPhone 5 is 3.95 ounces, but the packaged weight includes the box, the shipping box, the cable, headsets and power charger. Hopefully all of that is just under 12 ounces.
Apple had over 5 million iPhone orders over the launch weekend, and almost all of those were most likely shipping directly from the factories in China.
Five million boxes at 362,312 boxes per plane is 13.8 plane loads of iPhones. So a total of 14 planes is needed.
UPS only has 13 747-400 planes.
My iPhone is waiting for a spare plane.
