Apple 3G iPhone Arrives in North America, 188 Containers

ImportGenius analyzed thousands of U.S. customs records for Apple Inc and identified a major spike in generated imports. According to the available data, Apple and its partners have imported 188 ocean containers of a product type never before declared on its shipping manifests.

ImportGenius.com is a search engine that compiles the trade data from U.S. Customs records and provides access to continuously updated database of records on every shipment entering the United States.

According to Ryan Petersen of ImportGenius, Apple declared these products as “electronic computers,” rather than mobile phones. “They have never before reported this product on their customs declarations. The fact that they are importing millions of units, combined with dwindling stocks of the first generation of iPhones, clearly supports the Citi analysts predictions.” Petersen was refering to Citi analyst Richard Gardner who last month predicted that Apple would announce the new 3G iPhone at its June 9th World Developers Conference in San Francisco.

Apparently, Hon Hai Precision Corp and Quanta Computer have been working on the newest generation of the iPhone. Described on the Bills of Lading as “electric computers,” Quanta alone delivered 20 ocean containers of merchandise, to Apple. “Neither Apple, Quanta, nor any other company has ever used this product description for any shipments to the U.S.,” - notes the report, and continues with the disclosure of more shipments:

The initial shipments were followed on March 27, April 28, May 6 and May 17 with an additional 44 containers—each containing an estimated 40,000 units of the new phone. The sixteen containers imported by Apple Inc. itself… were delivered on March 19 and 27 to the Jonestown, Pa. facilities of Ingram Micro, Apple’s U.S. distribution partner… Meanwhile, on the exact same dates as the shipments above, Schenker AG, another of Apple’s distribution partners, imported a total of 67 containers of this new product type from an undisclosed manufacturer in Shanghai, China.

Apple’s most recent shipment - Bill of Lading # HLCUSHA0803FTFR8 - which contained 504 cartons of unidentified product weighing 7140 kg, arrived at the port of New York on the Vessel NYK Delphinus on May 17th.

Many arrival notification addresses were destined to Vancouver BC, Canada. Recently, Canada’s largest telecom, Rogers Communications Inc, has announced it will be the official carrier for Apple’s iPhone in Canada. They are expected to begin offering the device to Canadian market shortly.