A key reason for the expectation of flat earnings is that Apple will air freight the machines from East Asia to the United States during the current quarter to try to meet the sizable backlog of orders.
Sceptics of the SpaceX model have questioned whether the Californian company can maintain its prices long term, or indeed the quality and reliability of its rockets when the launch rate has to ramp up to meet the demands of its backlog.
Several other centres said they had "backlogs" but they would meet the deadline of processing them by 11 September.
His comments were an acknowledgment that the backlog is frustrating presidential policy and failing to meet the deadlines in the executive order under which regulations are reviewed.
Mr. Stevens said that despite the current backlog, the department would work to meet the new standards concurrently with the old ones.
To meet the due-date constraints, a system manager may reject orders when a backlog of work is judged to be excessive, thereby incurring lost revenues.
For a host of reasons — old age, infirmity, poverty, the difficulty of learning English, on top of backlogs, crushing paperwork and high administrative fees — thousands of people would be unable to meet the deadline.
Even as the company's 10,161 employees were laboring to meet an order backlog totaling nearly 900 aircraft, Mr. Mbeki's delegation was adding to their agreeable burden with a $900 million contract to buy 70 jets for airlines in his country.
A further 283,000 homes would also need to be built to meet both new demand and the backlog of housing need in London, it said.
In the years 2006-07 and 2007-08, current spending will rise by 2.5% - in line with the our cautious view of the trend growth of the economy - and investment will rise to 2.25% of GDP as we make up the backlog of investment whilst meeting our fiscal rules.
