Looking at a graph of market share by smartphone vendor, the precipitous decline of Nokia is painfully obvious, and it looks like RIM isn’t doing so well either. On the other hand, you can see the rapid rise of Samsung. Samsung has claimed 26% of the global smartphone market, becoming the largest vendor. Apple slipped from 19% to close to 14%, but that could be due to anticipation of the iPhone 4S (the figures are from before the launch). Nokia has toppled from the top of the heap to under 14% in roughly a year. HTC overtook RIM with 11% to 9% as the former continues to gain market share and the latter loses it. Sony has approximately 6%, LG 5%, and Motorola 4%.

Unsurprisingly the units shipped by vendor closely aligns with the market share of each vendor. The sheer number of devices being shipped is really impressive.

Via Droid Life.

And now the bad news. Sure, you save 47%, but that’s 47% off the $1200 MSRP! Yes, one thousand two hundred dollars. You pay $639.99. For a phone. OK, sure, it is an uber-device that can replace your phone, camera, PMP, and perhaps more. But that’s still not impulse buy territory.

Disclaimer: I’m employed by Sling Media and HAVA is considered a competitor.

The press release:

Sep 11, 2008 12:03 ET

Monsoon Multimedia Announces Availability of HAVA Mobile Player for Nokia Internet Tablet

Control and View Your TV Over WiMAX or WiFi with HAVA Mobile Player for Nokia Handheld Devices

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 11 /PRNewswire/ — (CTIA Wireless) — Monsoon Multimedia, an innovative digital video solutions provider, today announced the availability of the HAVA Mobile Player for Nokia N800 and N810 Internet Tablets. Available from Monsoon as a free download, the HAVA Mobile Player allows HAVA customers to view and control their home television and services, including satellite and TiVo, from anywhere in the world on a Nokia Internet Tablet.

The HAVA Mobile Player for Nokia Internet Tablets was designed for seamless integration with Nokia’s unique multimedia device allowing viewers to control the television (whether cable or satellite, receiver or DVR, standard or high definition) via the Internet Tablet’s physical keys or stylus in real time over a WiFi or WiMAX connection.

“In today’s content rich market everything from banking to gaming and now even TV is going from laptops to mobile devices so adding the handheld feature was a logical next step,” said Paul Friedman, President of Monsoon Multimedia’s US Operations and head of the company’s mobile business. “Our support for Nokia’s Internet Tablets gives HAVA customers the ability to watch their favorite baseball team play or their local news, regardless of their location, wherever WiMAX or WiFi is available.”

The Nokia Internet Tablet version of the HAVA Mobile Player is tablet- optimized software for the video-streaming service that Monsoon also provides for PCs and other mobile devices. Monsoon’s HAVA features unique video multicasting capabilities which allow users to broadcast their home television to multiple devices within their home network while simultaneously place- shifting video to a connected PC or Nokia Internet Tablet anywhere in the world.

Pricing and Availability

The Monsoon HAVA Player for the Nokia Internet Tablet is now available as a free direct download available at http://www.myhava.com/products.html. The HAVA product line is available from Monsoon at http://www.myhava.com/ and through select retailers and etailers nationwide.

About Monsoon Multimedia

Monsoon Multimedia provides advanced, standards-based multimedia products and technologies for the PC and Consumer Electronics industries. Monsoon licenses highly optimized multimedia solutions comprised of applications, drivers, frameworks, middleware and reference designs. Our customers and partners are semiconductor companies, PC manufacturers, software suppliers and consumer electronics companies. Founded by the founders of Dazzle and Emuzed, the company has offices in California, India and Russia. For more information, please visit http://www.monsoonmultimedia.com/.

Media Contact:
Anders Steele
FortyThree, Inc.
831.239.0960
anders@fortythreepr.com

Source: Monsoon Multimedia

CONTACT: Anders Steele of FortyThree, Inc., +1-831-239-0960,
anders@fortythreepr.com, for Monsoon Multimedia

Web site: http://www.monsoonmultimedia.com/
http://www.myhava.com/

Disclaimer: I work for Sling Media, and HAVA is ostensibly our competitor.

I will warn you that the video is, well, slow paced. There isn’t a lot exciting there – it is a new version of the HAVA Mobile Player running on a Nokia tablet. The most interesting thing about that, to me, is that the Nokia tablets run Linux, so maybe this was an exercise to prepare for the growing number of Linux smartphones, etc. I just don’t see support for the N800/810 really selling any HAVA boxes, since the tablet market is fairly small. I’d think Monsoon would’ve gotten more return on investment by releasing a client for Mac OS or Symbian OS.

Picked up from EngadgetHD.