"Shuttleworth believes that Ubuntu will be more user-friendly for people who barely know how to use a smartphone." An experience that is more user friendly tha

"Shuttleworth believes that Ubuntu will be more user-friendly for people who barely know how to use a smartphone." An experience that is more user friendly than iOS and more user friendly than Windows Phone will be hard to do. Beating Android might be easier. Furthermore, very few people with money haven't already used a smartphone, so they'll be aiming for the market of people who have no money. Not exactly lucrative, and Android has distinct advantages there. Android can be cheaper than Ubuntu because they can monetize mobile advertising better. In short, this effort will totally fail. There is no compelling reason to have a 5th player in the smartphone market, and given Ubuntu's track record with desktop UI, I don't think their effort in mobile will be terribly inspired.