I have a slightly different take. In my view, the top management of Jolla had a plan, and they followed that plan to perfection -- they were planning on building an Android Killer mobile OS, and replacing Android at least on low-end phones. And to a significant extent, they've accomplished their initial goal -- the Sailfish OS is, in my opinion, the most viable alternative to Android and iOS currently in existence.

The problem is that their plan itself is flawed. Mobile phone aficionados may be deeply interested in the OS running their phone, but average users are not. And, therefore, mobile manufacturers are not either. Apple spends enormous sums on their software, but their top mantra is always "user experience" above all else. All other hardware manufacturers just go with Android, because it's "good enough" and still affordable.

Sailfish may be able to compete on user experience with Android, but there's just no way Jolla was ever going to get enough devices in the hands of enough users to make manufacturers think about switching from Android. They really needed an alternative way to set up a viable user base first; the Phone was a good start, but never went anywhere. The Tablet was, I think, an even better idea, as it didn't compete directly with phones and was able to be marketed to more of the world; but really, a device like that should have been targeted for early 2014, not late 2015.

And I still think they are aiming at the wrong targets with Sailfish. Jolla should not be trying to go after the average user (to maximize their market share); they should instead be targeting smaller groups of users with particular interests (to maximize their profits). This is exactly what Apple does; in both the mobile and desktop markets, they unapologetically aim for folks who can afford higher-end electronics, and target their offerings to fit those people's needs. Apple has little or no interest in maximizing market share! Jolla already has the eye of folks who are interested in Linux, in open source software, and in privacy; they should be marketing hardware directly to these groups first, before trying to license the OS generally to manufacturers.

Anyway, just my thoughts on the issue here...