First Ubuntu Phone OEM?

[ugm6hr]

I think it could be Huawei. They already have lots of good Android phones but are desperately trying to grow their marketshare. Trying something new like Ubuntu, with Android phones as their fallback, may be right up their alley.

My other guess is Alcatel-Lucent. Currently with no marketshare and only low-end phones. They are rumoured to be looking at playing with the big boys in mobile and releasing some high-end phones, maybe for the business market, without having to compete head on with Samsung (which is why Canonical is now talking about streaming Windows apps to your phone).

It seems you've answered your own question with the most likely contenders... Although I would have put these as probable Firefox OS OEMs aiming at the low end.

Ubuntu is trying to position itself as a corporate mobile in the current "take your work with you" approach to employment. I suspect that unknown brands with a reputation for low cost will not be the right fit.

I wonder if some of the recent losers in the Android sphere (to Samsung) who are keen to try something else might be possibilities: HTC are reinventing themselves, and were not afraid to dabble with Windows phones; perhaps LG also?

[SeijiSensei]

In the US at least, I do not see much if any market for an Ubuntu phone. First, you'd have to sway the carriers to sell and support these phones as nearly everyone buys a package that includes the phone with the cell service. After all the efforts by Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile and the like to push first the iPhone, then Android devices, and now Windows Phones to customers, do you really think they will undertake supporting yet another operating system with no visibility in the marketplace? I suspect they would have been happier to see Microsoft stay out of the phone business, but they have no choice about whether to support Windows Phone. The same can hardly be said about supporting Ubuntu.

Then there is the whole question of apps. Will Ubuntu phone allow me to run, say, Android apps simply by going to to the Google Play store and installing them? Microsoft already faces this problem with Windows Phone, and it sure as hell has a lot more leverage to encourage app development than Ubuntu ever will.

Carriers also don't like devices that give their users "too much" control. The US cell phone industry is dominated by the carriers. That may not be so true in other parts of the world.

[pompel9]

huawei phones are not good, they promise a lot and last fro maximum 3 months mate!

I bought my Huawei 6 months ago. I have had no problems with it.

[macjim]

I'm hoping for the phone software to be available for me to install onto my Galaxy S3 as I bought it expressly to get Ubuntu Phone onto it. I got fed up with iOS and I hate Google Android.

[heat33330]

Nokia could use a decent smart phone.

You must be living under a rock.

[3rdalbum]

You must be living under a rock.

I agree with them. Nokia could use a decent smartphone, and I'm fully aware of their Lumina products. Good hardware, horrible software; ironically this was the reason Nokia failed so badly with their Symbian phones. The only real difference is that the user interface of the Symbian phones was more pleasing to the eye than the garish flat colours of Windows Phone 8.

[tgalati4]

If Nokia can't get any traction into the market place with a Windows8 phone, then perhaps jumping to Ubuntu would be a logical choice. If a company is floundering and making bad decisions, what is to say that it won't continue to make bad decisions? Ubuntu phone is a "thinking-outside-the-box" solution that could help them. I still have my Nokia n800. They dabbled in open-source before.

The Nokia Win8 phone reminds me of another successful product: Zune

[Mikeb85]

My guess would be ZTE, Huawei, Alcatel or Micromax, or maybe even Geeksphone (they're making Firefox OS phones).

[Sharft 6]

I bought my Huawei 6 months ago. I have had no problems with it.

Had my Huawei for 28 months now. Has a shattered screen, exposed circuitry, and water damage. Every feature still seems to work on it though . The only difference is the alert light always glows bright red unless the battery has been dead for a few weeks. I would buy another when this one actually dies.

[pompel9]

Had my Huawei for 28 months now. Has a shattered screen, exposed circuitry, and water damage. Every feature still seems to work on it though . The only difference is the alert light always glows bright red unless the battery has been dead for a few weeks. I would buy another when this one actually dies.

That is remarkable. Seems that huawei makes good quality phones