Last month, Canonical launched the biggest crowdfunding campaign on IndieGogo yet, asking for $32 million to make the Ubuntu Edge, the new smartphone to capture the Ubuntu mobile OS design perfectly, as Google does with the Nexus devices.
The few start days made it seem like the Ubuntu Edge was on its way to certain success, but as the excitement drained and the questions began to rise, Canonical was faced with the dilemma they may have overstretched the campaign goal.
The campaign has now ended, $19 million short of its original goal. Sadly, even though the Ubuntu Edge got a huge start boost, it failed to gain traction throughout the campaign and the changes in pricing made backers worried they would chip in at the wrong time.
Canonical can still say the had the biggest campaign fund in the history of IndieGogo and Kickstarter, beating the $10 million pledged for the Pebble smartwatch. They also have the biggest failure, at $19 million short, to take into consideration.
The next move from Canonical is up to the development team, they may make the Ubuntu Edge for the contributors or they may scrap the entire project and keep focused on third party involvement with the Ubuntu OS.
The former sounds like a better option, the Ubuntu Edge is one of the most exciting devices we have heard about in the last few years, with dual-boot Ubuntu/Android and Ubuntu desktop OS available on any display, it is the most powerful mobile.
Canonical could set up a new backing fund on their own website, where they say anyone who wants an Ubuntu Edge can pay X-amount to get it and then they will ship all orders.
