That does not make them giving away smartphones for free. Canonical never did profits, too. Canonical is minimizing risks here. Instead of investing 32 Mio and hoping for success, they first look whether there is demand. They also clearly state what kind of device this is. Nokia and Microsoft are masters in burning millions and millions of Euros for unsuccessful smartphones, but they have the cash (well, Nokia had… but that happens when you welcome trojan horses). It would not help Canonical nor Shuttlworth nor the Ubuntu Community to burn millions for a device no one buys.