ubuntu-phone team mailing list archive

[Bob Summerwill <bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>> Are OEMs not queuing up to ship devices running Touch?

I suspect that the answer to that is "no".

If, as seems likely, both BQ and Meizu have no immediate plans to ship
further Ubuntu Touch devices then that likely means that it is not
economically beneficial to them to do so.   That certainly isn't an
appealing market for other OEMs to join.    Canonical would likely be
pouring their money down the drain with such a device.

Mozilla went through a very similar journey with Firefox OS, though with
way more devices and way more traction.   They ended up giving up on the
device side, and focusing on just community ports, and on application of
the OS to new (non-mobile) markets.

Mobile is a tough, tough market to compete with.    Commodity Android
devices are very, very compelling to the mass market.    Mobile Linux is a
really niche.   See the troubles Jolla have experienced too.     Even
Samsung are struggling to make any kind of impact with Tizen - though that
likely has more to do with their own internal politics than any lack of
resourcing or ability to sell large volumes.

My personal feeling is that mobile is now "mature", and uninteresting, like
the PC market.   Who really cares if you have an ASUS or an Acer or a HP or
whatever.    They have razor-thin markets and little differentiation.    I
think that is where mobile is getting to be, with Android as the Windows,
and iOS as the Mac.    So iOS is premium and profitable, "because Apple",
but Android is the de-facto standard, commodity and unprofitable.     That
is a really unappealing place to try to build a third platform.

Android has utterly skewed manufacturing too, to my understanding, so that
if you want to get a SoC now, you are going to get Android bootloaders and
drivers on it.   As blobs.   And you're just going to have to suck that up.
   Want X11 drivers?   No way.

Tizen is the only mobile Linux which hasn't just made the pragmatic choice
of avoiding the issue by using Hybris.   For everybody else, Android has
become the de-facto HAL :-)

So yeah... I have an MX5 Pro as my daily driver and love it.   MX4 before
that.    But I don't have much hope of any future Ubuntu Touch mobile
devices.    I think we're likely walking dead, but just haven't stopped
walking yet.

So maybe Jolla and Tizen are the "last men standing" in this space?    For
mobile profile, at least.    Tablets are a different story.   Ditto IoT and
Ubuntu Snappy Core.

On Wed, Sep 7, 2016 at 10:49 AM, mark <j.m.holmes@xxxxxx> wrote:

> +1
>
> The same thought had crossed my mind. Touch seems to be reaching the point
> of maturity where something of the Edge's specs might come to fruition. It
> would be a winner, imho.
>
> Are OEMs not queuing up to ship devices running Touch?
>
> m
>
> On 07/09/16 14:32, Art wrote:
>
> Question.......
>
> I read all the comments, and I am now curious.....
>
> What is to stop Canonical from releasing their own branded phones right
> now?? Just because the current 'offering' isn't Canonical branded, Is there
> anything that prevents them from selling a Canonical branded phone later
> on??
>
> After all, now we know that a linux based phone actually works, what is to
> stop Canonical (or even myself) from seeking out an independent phone OEM,
> buying them in bulk and rebranding them, complete with the linux software
> already installed?
>
> Great list all, I hope to see the linux phone succeed! It's about time we
> take back control of our own phones and block all the 'features' that rob
> us of our privacy!!
>
> Art
>
>
>
>
> On 09/05/2016 10:49 AM, Krzysztof Tataradziński wrote:
>
>
> Hi
>
> Did anyone from Canonical considered to 'simply' develop phone themselves
> alone, order it in factory and sell with Canonical brand?
>
>
>
>
>
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-- 
bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx