Don’t expect Ubuntu phones from major carriers until 2015

Canonical: Ideal Ubuntu phone user is someone who doesn’t need a lot of apps.

Jon Brodkin – Jan 16, 2014 10:05 am | 76

We don't yet know who will release an Ubuntu phone. Credit: Canonical

Canonical has been promising Ubuntu phones in the early part of 2014, and it may still reach that goal. However, the phones likely won’t be sold by what the company calls major carriers or handset manufacturers.

In a reddit AMA (ask me anything) this week, Ubuntu Community Manager Jono Bacon wrote, “Longer-term we would love to see the major OEM/Carriers shipping Ubuntu handsets. This is a long road though with many components, and I would be surprised if we see anything like this before 2015… In the shorter-term there are smaller OEMs who serve a smaller region who see great opportunity in Ubuntu, and their costs and risk are smaller for them to trial a device. This is where we will likely see the first handsets shipping. My hope is that when one of these smaller OEMs ships [an] Ubuntu handset that it sells well and it sends a strong message to other OEMs too.”

That likely means Verizon won’t be among the first to sell an Ubuntu phone, despite the company joining Ubuntu’s program for potential launch partners last July.

Bacon did make it clear that the 2015 prediction is his opinion rather than a fact. Bacon’s comment came in response to a reddit user who asked, “Can you describe the person who will buy an Ubuntu Phone? Who is the ideal customer?”

“I think the ideal customer today is someone who wants a dependable device but does not require a large catalogue of specific apps (as we don’t have many of them yet),” Bacon said, before discussing carriers and OEMs.

Releasing phones from big carriers and hardware makers will be key to getting interest from third-party developers who can fill up Ubuntu’s app store, Bacon said. “When the major OEMs/Carriers ship, this is when many of the ISVs [independent software vendors] will be on-board too,” he wrote.

Canonical was hoping to build a phone itself in the form of the high-end Ubuntu Edge but chose to make it only if it could raise $32 million in a crowdfund campaign, which fell short by $19 million. Right now, Canonical says it has no plans to release its own hardware.

“We don’t have any plans to put the Ubuntu Edge into production,” Bacon wrote. “I am supportive of this: I think it would tie Canonical up in knots delivering a very specific device rather than focusing our efforts on making Ubuntu work well for other OEMs who can ship it. The Ubuntu Edge was really helpful though. It directly triggered a set of discussions from various OEMs and Carriers who were blown away by the support in the community and press for the device. But damn, I would love an Edge. Beyond the brick that I have in my office that we used to show the hardware design.”

Canonical unveiled its plans for a phone operating system in January 2013. The first stable version of Ubuntu for phones was released in October, and a tablet version is expected to follow in April of this year. Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth has said mobile success is crucial for the company’s future, so the slow start in signing up major carriers and hardware makers has to be frustrating.

Bacon was also asked whether Canonical is giving up on Ubuntu TV. “It is still alive, but right now our focus is prioritized on phone and tablet (our desktop is also maintained). When the phone and tablet work is done we will converge the desktop and then get to TV,” Bacon wrote.