Ubuntu phones to sell for $200 to $400, is this the right strategy?

Canonical's founder Mark Shuttleworth is one person in the tech world who it seems always has something interesting to say, and today he was at the CeBIT computer expo in Germany, where he definitely had a few good words about the plans for Ubuntu Touch. Shuttleworth talked about the potential price points, and the intended user base, but we have to wonder if the strategy is sound.
Shuttleworth and company have never been shy about aiming high with Ubuntu Touch. The team has always been clear that it wants to see Ubuntu Touch running on high-end hardware, even though it would be usable on lower-end hardware. We all saw the spectacular failure that was the Ubuntu Edge, which could have been any smartphone enthusiast's dream, but unfortunately it couldn't generate the funding needed to make it a reality (though, it should be noted that the fundraising certainly proved the market for such a device, which is likely an argument that Canonical has used when speaking to potential hardware partners.)
At CeBIT today, Shuttleworth also said that Canonical is not aiming to convert iPhone users, who more often have an "emotional attachment to the Apple ecosystem", but rather will be aiming at Android users. Shuttleworth says that non-Apple systems don't tend to have the same "emotional attachment", but there is also a need in that space for a platform that is easy to use, which he says is not something that you would find with Android. In the end, Shuttleworth clarified the target market for Ubuntu, saying that handsets will be selling in the "mid-higher edge, so $200 to $400". The reasoning for this maybe a bit more telling though, as Shuttleworth went on to say:
We're going with the higher end because we want people who are looking for a very sharp, beautiful experience and because our ambition is to be selling the future PC, the future personal computing engine.
This is very interesting, because it points to the marketing strategy for Ubuntu, but it is a somewhat controversial strategy. Consider these two points: 
The high-end smartphone market is becoming saturated, meaning the growth potential is in the low-end. The PC market is shrinking.
We've seen it in plenty of areas and with quite a few manufacturers: aiming at the high-end doesn't really work with smartphones. HTC nearly ran itself out of business by abandoning the mid and low-end markets before deciding this year to re-enter those spaces. Windows Phone has been showing great growth numbers over the past year, but almost all of that movement comes in the low-end market. Even Samsung relies heavily on a myriad of low-end smartphones released around the world in order to maintain the revenue that it has in the mobile sphere. Only Apple has been successful in the smartphone market without a true low-end option (aside from re-releasing three and a half year old hardware for emerging markets, which doesn't really count given its price tag.) 
But, that's the trick with Ubuntu. Canonical isn't really aiming at the smartphone market, it seems. As Shuttleworth said, Canonical wants "to be selling the future PC". This of course brings us to the second point, which is that the PC market isn't really any better than focusing on the high-end smartphone market, and it could be even worse in the end. PC sales are down almost across the board (once again, Apple is the outlier). The general thinking is that mobile devices like smartphones and tablets are eating away at the PC market, but that doesn't mean that mobile devices are necessarily replacing traditional PCs. However, that is exactly what Canonical wants to do with Ubuntu. 
A convergent opportunity? 
While many users have found that tablets are good enough for the majority of computing uses (checking e-mail, browsing the web, consuming content, and some light gaming), there are also some users who still need a traditional PC for a variety of uses (mostly more advanced things like photo/video editing, or more hardcore gaming). The first group greatly outnumbers the second, but the second group is far more outspoken (as you will see in most Internet message boards and comment threads). The question is whether Ubuntu will be able to fill the needs of both groups, because while the more tech advanced may be the minority, they hold a lot of power because they are often giving advice or flat out making the decisions for the more casual computing group. 
Software
This is important for a couple of reasons. First, Ubuntu is a Linux system, which still has the reputation for being less user friendly than options like Windows or Mac/iOS. Android has been by far the most successful Linux-based system, but Android doesn't yet have a presence on traditional PCs (though that is supposedly on the way). Casual users will need fears of switching to be soothed in order for Ubuntu to see more mass adoption. A big part of this will be in software, and by that we don't necessarily mean the OS software, but rather the apps and games available. 
Unfortunately, this has traditionally been a weak point for Linux distributions. While Linux has always offered a substantial selection of quality apps, it doesn't have the brands that people are used to seeing. There is no Microsoft Office, no Photoshop, and no iTunes. Instead, you'll find OpenOffice, GIMP, and Rythmbox or Banshee. This shouldn't necessarily be that big a deal, but it usually is. It was the same issue that Android faced in its early days, and the issue that Windows Phone is currently facing - the apps are there and they are good quality, but they are off-brand. 


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