That's not the issue though. If they were coming directly from the warehouse, then there would be no difference between Apple shipping it directly to him from China versus waiting for the stock to build up in the warehouse prior to shipping it to him. That would make no sense, especially given the fact that others were getting their phones shipped directly to them from China, bypassing any warehouse.
But if they did indeed say that the bulk of their shipments were coming by boat, then there has to be a way to see when the handoff from clearing customs at LGB to the carrier, then be flown domestic. Otherwise, the logistics would be:
Boat to LGB - flown to a warehouse - carrier picking up from warehouse - sent to customer.
There would be no explanation as to why a customer had to wait 6+ weeks from ordering for theirs to be sent by boat while someone else who ordered at the same time had theirs sent by air.
BL.