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No kidding, right?  I think maybe everyone but Nokia saw it coming.  Or maybe they did too…just not at this drastic of a level. 

According to the popular market research firm Canalys, Nokia’s market share dropped down to 38.9 percent in the third quarter; which is down from 51.4 just a year earlier.  On the other hand, Apple jumped to 17.3 percent, and RIM increased to 15.2 the same quarter.

Canalys credits some of the Apple and RIM increases to new phones and new marketing strategies.  In a statement, the firm said “"The introduction of the iPhone 3G in July and Apple’s expansion into many more countries helped propel the vendor to second place globally.“  Continued.

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Asus set a target of 5 million units of its Eee PC netbook to be sold this year, which they appear to be reaching.  The only problem is that shipments of the Acer Aspire One are creeping towards its ambitious target of 6 million sales, 20% more than the Eee PC.

The title of “best selling netbook” is one that Asus will be incredibly reluctant to give up as it was mainly them who came up with the netbook idea, and it has been through them that the craze has spread.  However the numbers do not lie, Asus only shipped 1.7 million in the third quarter while Acer managed 2.4 million, and advantage they intend to continue into the fourth quarter with predicted sales to exceed this quarter.

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I get confused when I can’t tell an endorsement from a paid endorsement.  One minute there is a report that talk show host Oprah Winfrey has declared Amazon’s Kindle her “favorite new thing” and the next is a big advertisement with Ms. Winfrey on Amazon.  A quick search on the tubes proves I am unsuccessful at finding out if she was paid to make this claim or not.

The Oprah show painted the Kindle as a wonder: not frivolous as it will save you money in the long run and a super green way to read books.  I can hear the trees applauding from here.  More after the break.

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MSI is expected to reach sales of somewhere between 600,000 and 700,000 units for their Wind netbook.  Although it sounds like a big difference from the 4 million that Asus has sold, MSI is coming in well above their initial goal of 500,000.

The higher than expected sales are due in part because of “white-box vendors” in Europe and Southeast Asia who have purchased the Wind netbook and then resold it under their own brand.  Of course, without the surge and popularity of the netbook in general right now, those “white-box vendors” may have been looking elsewhere for products.

In addition to the success with the Wind, MSI has stated that they are also expecting to sell 800,000 to 1 million of their own branded notebooks this year.  Assuming their sales figures are accurate, we may see MSI overtake Samsung for a top ten worldwide vendor position.

Read [DigiTimes]

• Asus unveils the brushed-metal Eee PC 1002HA
• Dell quietly adds artwork options to the Mini 9, Mini 12 lineup, also adds pink, red
• Patriots QB joins forces with OLPC

Asus may be a little optimistic, or maybe just cocky, but they believe that they can make a 1430% increase in sales this year over last year with their Eee PC. Yes, they are predicting that they can make 5 million sales this year, and although it is unclear as to whether this just includes the Eee PC, or if this prediction incorporates many of the other products that have been given the Eee PC label, it is still very optimistic either way.

Or is it? Last year Asus had the whole of the market, which considering their 350,000 sales wasn’t massive; however the market for low cost ultra portable computers has increased massively, and Asus president Jerry Shen (who made the above prediction) also said that they expected this marked to grow to 10 million sales overall. If you then consider that HP’s Mini-Note has only been available for a few months, that Acer and MSI have yet to release their Eee PC-competitors, and Dell hasn’t even officially announced its entry into the marketplace, they may just have a good chance at getting the predicted 50% of the market.

I personally think that although they may get 50% of the market at most, 10 million sales is probably a bit to many, but we will see.

Via [Liliputing]

• Asus unveils the brushed-metal Eee PC 1002HA
• Gadgetell Roundup:  HDTV sales on Black Friday
• Patriots QB joins forces with OLPC

Recent numbers are showing that Palm has raised its smartphone market share, topping out at 13.4% for Q1, which is up from 7.9% during the last quarter. While Palm has seen a nice increase from the previous quarter, sadly they are still down 23% from the same time period from one-year ago.

As anyone who is following the Palm story, even just a little bit, you could most likely guess that Palm is crediting the sales of the Centro for their increase. This jump for Q1 2008 places the increase from the previous quarter at around 70%, which is a nice jump. However it just goes to show that a $99 phone will make more people willing to commit. The Centro, while still a smartphone is a little more user-friendly thanks to the price, personally I see it in more hands of people that have no real definition of the word smartphone.

Via [jkOnTheRun]

• Black Friday 2008 video game deals roundup
• Deal of the Day: Buy 2 select games at Amazon and get $25, buy 3 and get $50
• Rumor: Palm Treo Pro coming to Sprint this January

It looks like Amazon’s decision to file a lawsuit against New York’s new tax policy on online stores may back fire on them as the Texas Comptroller’s Office is investigating the probability that the online store may actually owe the Texas government millions of dollars in unpaid taxes. If you will recall, in its case against the New York tax policy, Amazon argued that it should not pay the NY government any taxes because it doesn’t have a “physical presence” in New York.

The same reason is now being used by the Texas government as it found out that Amazon has a “physical presence” in the area. Apparently, Amazon has operated a distribution center at 2700 Regent Boulevard in Irving from 2006 to 2007. This was pointed out by the Dallas Morning News when it called Amazon to ask why it is not charging sales taxes to its online customers.

Amazon has not yet issued a statement confirming that it actually owns the distribution center. But if the presence of an Amazon flag outside the building is any indication of ownership, then Amazon may indeed own the distribution center.

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