Logistics

This photo is all about logistics. 

It shows the boxes for the iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4. You’ll notice they’ve started getting smaller. Partly, this is because Apple has introduced a smaller charger, but it’s also due to reworking of the design. 

Apple uses air freight for iPhones. Each of these was loaded onto a 747 from, say, Cathay Pacific Cargo and flown from Shenzhen to London. 

So, how much in air freight costs does Apple save with the iPhone 4 box design over the original iPhone box? I bet Tim Cook knows. 

As a bonus, note the lack of shiny happy people - Apple lets the product sell itself. Microsoft’s marketing department had a wry observation on this a few years ago - watch this video if you haven’t seen it before…