Mark Shuttleworth, founder of Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu platform, said in an exclusive interview with Mobile World Live that the intention is to have four launch devices powered by the operating system to lead its assault on the mobile market.

According to the executive, the plan is to go to market in the initial round with one original device manufacturer (ODM), who can provide white-label devices for operators, and an original equipment manufacturer (OEM), which will offer products under its own brand.

“We have a silicon lead, and so what we’ll do is take two of their reference platforms – one mid-range, and one high-end. Put those two platforms through the process with the ODM and OEM, so we end up with four devices at launch and then some carefully chosen launch carrier partners,” Shuttleworth said.

While the Ubuntu platform has picked up significant traction in the last couple of weeks, with China Unicom and Verizon Wireless singing for its Carrier Advisory Group, it was noted that the launch of the first commercial products is around six months away.

Device manufacturer partners have also not been named for Ubuntu in the mobile space.

And the company is also facing challenges from platforms such as Mozilla’s Firefox OS and the Samsung and Intel-backed Tizen, which are looking to challenge the Android and iOS hegemony in the device platform market.

View the full interview here.