Even the standard PHP string parser does 0.017ms on my 3 year old netbook.
<?php $st = microtime(true); $cnt = 10000; for ($i=0; $i<$cnt; $i++) strtotime('2014-01-09T21:48:00.921000'); echo 1000 * (microtime(true) - $st) / $cnt;
Python != PHP
Python with a jit is Pypy, http://speed.pypy.org/
Also PHP has some fast _implementations_ of PHP.
As a human, I can think a lot faster in Python. So for me, it's a faster language.
Lots of people deal with data rates that make webscale throughput look pretty pathetic; you are just less likely to know as it will be prop tech