Ubuntu On A Phone Or Firefox OS: Which Scares iPhone And Android Most?

Only time will tell. Anyway,the developments here are interesting to watch.

Canonical has one ace in the hole – the desktop feature. A powerful phone with Ubuntu installed can serve as a regular PC, once connected to a monitor and a keyboard.

At a time when most of your applications are hosted in the cloud, the ability to have your phone run a thin client on a large screen could convince many to try this Linux distribution. Add the fact that a fleet of Ubuntu phones can be managed through the same tools as Ubuntu servers, and you can see how it could appeal to the enterprise users. http://www.techweekeurope.co.uk/comment/ubuntu-phone-firefox-os-linux-iphone-androi-103206

They can only really cut out of Android's (or RIM's, etc.) userbase, not Apple's. Even then, they're nipping at the edges of Android's userbase from two different directions that don't intersect. Firefox OS is targeting developing markets, where Ubuntu Phone is targeting a niche audience in mature markets for whom Android isn't Linuxy enough and maybe trying to pick up some of RIM's customer hemorrhage in the enterprise sector that Android's already not really targeting. And the convergence stuff that makes Ubuntu Phone uniquely interesting is also available in Ubuntu for Android, so Android users can keep using Android and still have a desktop-in-the-pocket solution.

None of that is a bad thing. In the short term, it means that both of these projects have somewhere to fit without competing directly, feature-for-feature, with Apple and Android. In the long term, it means that if they *do* get established, they might have a shot at shaking up the duopoly or at least offering an alternative for some percentage of the market. But for right now, I imagine that Apple will go on selling on status and perceived ease of use and Android will go on selling as the only freer (and often cheaper) alternative to have a comparable feature set.

Copper Bezel said: They can only really cut out of Android's (or RIM's, etc.) userbase, not Apple's. Even then, they're nipping at the edges of Android's userbase from two different directions that don't intersect. Firefox OS is targeting developing markets, where Ubuntu Phone is targeting a niche audience in mature markets for whom Android isn't Linuxy enough and maybe trying to pick up some of RIM's customer hemorrhage in the enterprise sector that Android's already not really targeting. And the convergence stuff that makes Ubuntu Phone uniquely interesting is also available in Ubuntu for Android, so Android users can keep using Android and still have a desktop-in-the-pocket solution.

None of that is a bad thing. In the short term, it means that both of these projects have somewhere to fit without competing directly, feature-for-feature, with Apple and Android. In the long term, it means that if they *do* get established, they might have a shot at shaking up the duopoly or at least offering an alternative for some percentage of the market. But for right now, I imagine that Apple will go on selling on status and perceived ease of use and Android will go on selling as the only freer (and often cheaper) alternative to have a comparable feature set. Good analysis.