What Five Thirty Eight‘s Nate Silver is to political blogging, Horace Dediu is to the mobile-gadget field. The Helsinki-based analyst’s Asymco covers the competition among Apple, Google, Microsoft, RIM and other major players in the phone and tablet markets. He’s not shy about expressing strong opinions, but they’re always grounded in sales figures and other hard numbers and often accompanied by revealing infographics. If you want to understand why some tech companies thrive while others flail, Asymco is infinitely rewarding reading.