iPhone 5 Shipping Delays Dropped to Two to Four Days, Regardless of Carrier, GB Model, Unlocked Smartphones

The shipping delays are decreasing, right on time for the holiday shopping season.

Back in September, the iPhone 5 launched and almost immediately saw shipping delays increase to four weeks long. Relief came in sight as the delays started to ease to two to three weeks. The good news kept coming as last week the delays shortened to one week. Today, however, has seen shipping times decrease further to now two to four days.

The new shipping times include both color options of black and white and for the three GB models of 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB.

The two to four business days shipping is also valid for the unlocked and contract-free iPhone 5, currently priced at $649 for the 16GB model, $749 for the 32GB, and $849 for the 64GB model.

The original lengthy delayed stemmed for a few reasons.

An official from the Hon Hai Precision Industry Company based in Taiwan and with offices across China deals with the iPhone 5's production with their trade name Foxconn Technology Group. He stated how the iPhone 5 was "the most difficult device" the factory has ever assembled.

"To make it light and thin, the design is very complicated," said an official from Hon Hai who declined to be named to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ). "It takes time to learn how to make this new device. Practice makes perfect. Our productivity has been improving day by day."

The Hon Hai official added that the company is addressing scratching issues on the iPhone 5 by implementing a "new quality check procedure to reduce the chance of damages," according to the WSJ.

The official added that the new metal coating has been a problem for factory workers along with other "quality issues," notably those in the Zhengzhou factory, the major production facility for the iPhone 5. Despite the problems, Hon Hai is still hiring workers to meet Apple's demand.

The news comes as Apple is set to distribute the iPhone 5 across 54 countries, including China.

The other 53 countries set to see the iPhone 5 are:

Dec.7: South Korea;

Dec. 14: Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Bahamas, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Ecuador, Grenada, Indonesia, Israel, Jamaica, Jordan, Kuwait, Macedonia, Malaysia, Moldova, Montenegro, Panama, Paraguay, Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Venezuela;

Dec. 21: Barbados, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Egypt, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St.Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia, Uganda, and Vietnam.

The iPhone 5 is already available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the United States, to name a bunch of a few.