Dear Friends,

I got back from China on Wednesday night and my body is still quite confused about which time zone it is in. Even though the seats recline to a bed, I have never been able to sleep on airplanes, so I read a few books, answered email and watched a movie on the long 15-hour flight. It was over 24 hours of traveling from my hotel in Hong Kong to my home, so I got my sleep patterns totally confused.

You would have thought that the iPad mini that is rumored had already been released with all of the accessories that were being shown. I even got a sample of an iPad mini case that had a very realistic mock-up of the iPad mini with it. I attended two trade shows in Hong Kong and then traveled to Dongguan and Shenzhen to visit our manufacturing partners and to talk about new products.

There were a few companies showing Lightning connectors but when I asked, none of them had acquired Apple licenses for the products (although they were all hopeful). It is my understanding that Apple will not actually license the design, but will require these manufacturers to purchase the connector from Apple suppliers. For this reason — aside from the few companies that had the pirated cables — there were no Lightning accessories at the show.

There was a huge selection of iPhone cases, iPad cases, speakers and other peripherals. It is a little like finding a needle in a haystack, however, because many companies have the same products and it takes some time to determine whether the company is a manufacturer or a trading agent. Nevertheless, I came back with a bag full of brochures and samples that may lay the groundwork for new Hammerhead and Chill Pill products.

I noted that while I was gone we were able to acquire a bunch more of the Apple Certified Refurbished 17-inch MacBook Pros. These all carry the standard Apple 1-year warranty and are eligible for AppleCare Protection Plan, too. This is the last of the 17-inch MacBook Pros so if you are looking for a laptop with a big screen, this could be the best opportunity to get one at a highly discounted price (they start at $1349.99!).