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Personally, I don't think Ubuntu actually wants the $32M. Remember, Mark specifically says that most manufacturers won't take you seriously unless you order 10

Personally, I don't think Ubuntu actually wants the $32M. Remember, Mark specifically says that most manufacturers won't take you seriously unless you order 100,000 units. At $600 per phone, that's only 53k units (the volumes look worse at $830 per phone). They can't actually manufacture the phone as described for $32M. So, this is, IMHO, a publicity stunt intended to get carriers interested in Ubuntu phone, and it probably was quite successful.

storborg 13y ago
$600 per phone is the price, not the manufacturing cost.
- josh2600 13y ago
  Chances are, with a volume of less than 100k units, and with the Bill of Materials they're generating, I would be surprised if the cost of the phone were under $600. It's possible, but unlikely. I would wager that they can't even buy RAM directly from Samsung without an order over 100k units. So yeah, maybe $600 per phone is high, but maybe not. They're talking about a serious bill of materials, and although they're economizing on the CMOS and the LCD for the screen, I don't think that will reduce the cost much. The sapphire screen and the single-cut shell are both significant cost structures. It's fun to argue about unknowable things, but given that (I assume) neither of us works for Canonical, I think the answer is probably that you're right. It would be hard for that phone to cost $600, but it won't be cheap.
sz4kerto 13y ago
It is, at least that was hinted by an Ubuntu team member, here: http://hup.hu/cikkek/20130723/indiegogo_kampanyt_inditott_a_canonical_az_ubuntu_edge_telefon_piacra_dobasahoz#comment-1625092 http://hup.hu/cikkek/20130723/indiegogo_kampanyt_inditott_a_... Rough translation of the first sentence ("Ennek az akciónak elsősorban az a célja, hogy az Ubuntu híre még jobban eljusson az átlagemberekhez."): The aim of this move is to raise awareness about Ubuntu among average users.
dwild 13y ago
Quite successful? They got about 6500 preorders for a phone with better specs than anything on the market currently, for less than most of them. A publicity stunt to get people interested on Ubuntu phone maybe, but I doubt that theses numbers are good for carriers...
scholia 13y ago
I agree about the publicity stunt angle. Otherwise, the order is budgeted for 40,000 units.

storborg 13y ago

$600 per phone is the price, not the manufacturing cost.

josh2600 13y ago
Chances are, with a volume of less than 100k units, and with the Bill of Materials they're generating, I would be surprised if the cost of the phone were under $600. It's possible, but unlikely. I would wager that they can't even buy RAM directly from Samsung without an order over 100k units. So yeah, maybe $600 per phone is high, but maybe not. They're talking about a serious bill of materials, and although they're economizing on the CMOS and the LCD for the screen, I don't think that will reduce the cost much. The sapphire screen and the single-cut shell are both significant cost structures. It's fun to argue about unknowable things, but given that (I assume) neither of us works for Canonical, I think the answer is probably that you're right. It would be hard for that phone to cost $600, but it won't be cheap.

sz4kerto 13y ago

It is, at least that was hinted by an Ubuntu team member, here: http://hup.hu/cikkek/20130723/indiegogo_kampanyt_inditott_a_canonical_az_ubuntu_edge_telefon_piacra_dobasahoz#comment-1625092 http://hup.hu/cikkek/20130723/indiegogo_kampanyt_inditott_a_... Rough translation of the first sentence ("Ennek az akciónak elsősorban az a célja, hogy az Ubuntu híre még jobban eljusson az átlagemberekhez."): The aim of this move is to raise awareness about Ubuntu among average users.

dwild 13y ago

Quite successful? They got about 6500 preorders for a phone with better specs than anything on the market currently, for less than most of them. A publicity stunt to get people interested on Ubuntu phone maybe, but I doubt that theses numbers are good for carriers...

scholia 13y ago

I agree about the publicity stunt angle. Otherwise, the order is budgeted for 40,000 units.