by Hannah Hollins
Canonical, creators of the Ubuntu Edge, the smartphone designed to run as its own linux-based computer, has failed to reach its ambitious $32 million campaign goal on Indiegogo. Since its July 22 start date, the campaign managed to fund $12,812,776, which is no small feat-- the highest grossing (and successful) campaign on Kickstarter, the Pebble watch, funded just over $10.2 million. However, Pebble didn't set the bar high-- their initial goal was a mere $100,000. This inspires interesting debate on the capabilities of crowdfunding. How does a startup or company find the right medium between a successful pitch and a reasonable goal?
The market was excited to see the Ubuntu Edge become a reality, but not $32 million excited. Would the Ubuntu Edge have succeeded if their goal was $10 million? $12 million? Yes. There were enthusiastic backers: Bloomberg purchased the top-tier, $80,000 bundle, which included 115 Ubuntu Edge smartphones and a free month of tech support and classes. 8 supporters gave $10,000 for one of the first 50 Ubuntu Edge phones to roll off the factory belt. Even when the supporter donation price for an Ubuntu Edge was dropped from $830 to $635, it sold a few more units, but no offer could motivate three times that number of backers to jump on the campaign.
Canonical justified their lofty goal by noting on their indiegogo campaign, "between design, certification and manufacture, the costs of building a new phone are huge -- but the more we produce, the lower the final cost of each handset. Setting such an ambitious target means a more competitive price per device." However, if there were backers willing to initially pay $830 initially for an Ubuntu Edge, it's clear that having a competitive price wasn't necessarily the deal maker. The Ubuntu Edge was something that would have been initially a niche market item, regardless of its price. People unfamiliar to the capabilities of Ubuntu likely would not spring for this phone, when placed next to an iPhone or other Android-based smartphone. The backers most enthusiastic about the Ubuntu Edge were developers and excited techies who prefer linux-based everything. Managing to hail the Ubuntu Edge to the worldwide market while making it affordable and accessible to everyone should not have been Canonical's initial goal.
With Canonical falling $20 million short of their goal, this event will be a lesson for other entrepreneurs trying to launch a large-scale project. Realizing a product in small batches and putting the product on the worldwide market are two entirely different steps. Aim for the first and the second wave of success will roll in easily over the first.
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