Just some thoughts..

Do you think, during all those negotiations aiming to fix a partnership with any major telecom player, Jolla people have presented themselves as a startup?

Jolla looks like failing company more than startup in need of financing to take off.

During the passed months Jolla has stated to be working hard to bring the Sailfish OS on Intex Telecom devices.

Intex was being called Jolla’s first licensing partner since mid '15.

At that point Jolla, IMO, by serving a contract outside of the mobile enthusiasts’ scope, has stopped being a startup and needed different kind of funding to match the chosen direction.

Investors that would commit to fully back this first commercial license project till its finished.

The tablet was already on the scene, and when the licensing agreement was discussed, they knew clearly what they needed to do and make, and of course they knew what profit would be in it for the company.

I guess that by the time that Intex project was introduced, the bigger seeding investors would have received information on what would be the minimal return of investment.
In India, even if you release a lousy phone, I guess you'd still sell 5000 - 10 000? If debtors are now knocking the door it seems that hey were not informed correctly or don’t agree with the chose direction (when Jolla stopped to be startup).

That is not surprising. If all you have to do is hand out ready made software with customer support in place and email license agreements that sounds like a good deal.

But a project absorbing all of the company's startup phase funded resources , imposing necessity for market specific software support (including partial development) and this for the next year to come, is something else.

Sailfish 1.0 becoming Sailifsh Intex (2.0) has shown clearly that the pure Sailfish OS would be tuned graphically in order to please the first licensing partner. There were not enough resources to cover both an independent Sailfish and a customised licensed version.

The project of creating the dream device that everybody would fall in love with without even considering its built in respect to privacy and not being iOS / Android was being replaced by the need to urgently deliver and support medium range cheap Android alternative phones for Intex.

I even suspect features like SIP voip Telepathy GUI introduction to be ignored such a long time in order not to disturb major telecom players as potential license partners.

The (intel) tablet being a project with lower prestige level than releasing a Jolla II in all aspects superior to the original Jolla should not have made it to mass production unless there was real profit to be made.

The tablet has not helped the Jolla case but to offer the early supporters an excuse for accepting the interface changes called “refreshed Sailfish with version number 2.0” as demanded by license partners.
Given the sales price, the profit obviously wasn't there.
We get it, Sailfish is flexible and adaptable but finally the Jolla tablet it is another case of x86 intel involved in losing critical time in alternative OS development.

It reminds me of Maemo + intel = MeeGo. Nobody was waiting for that and see where it left

Everybody could see that if Sailfish runs on Jolla phone / Nexus 5 phone it would run on a some tablet somehow ARM or x86 IF a hardware partner or licensee would want it to.


The problem Jolla is facing now is that they lack the funding (startup seeding money finished) to fulfil partnerships for which the only interest lays in fulfilling them , to not damage reputation (Jolla tablet with seeder investors willing to support no matter what and Intex phone with license partner, not investor) and support it all the way to earn a reputation.

For the people waiting for their tablet: it is much more important to give priority to fulfil the deal with Intex, if it is not being dropped yet. Or better, a license partner that has better reasons to switch to Sailfish and is willing to trust and co-invest with Jolla into Sailfish development.

As it is now I think that the early investors stopped to see the potential of the ongoin partnerships (tablet - Intex) realised in a way that would allow Jolla to continue working on the Sailfish devices that everybody wants in the near future.

Seeder investors will not continue to throw money and start to think about recovering it.. “I did not know, they did not tell me.. this is not what my bank / pension fund has told me I was investing it etc..”

My conclusion is, that they should have stayed startup long enough to finish Saiflish 1.0 and be open about it. If they would have told me they needed 199 USD to perfect Sailfish on Jolla phone so that potential partners would start drooling to have it on their device unconditionally, I would have happily contributed.