Canonical announces first Ubuntu tablet, the BQ Aquaris M10, features Convergence, letting it act like PC when connected to keyboard, mouse, display, on sale Q2
Ubuntu's first tablet doubles as a desktop, goes on sale in Q2 — Remember that time Spanish device maker BQ started promoting a new …
Context & Ripple Effects
BQ has been Canonical's only shipping hardware partner for Ubuntu since the platform's rocky start: the first device was a repurposed mid-range Android phone sold via EU flash sale, followed by the Aquaris E4.5 as the first commercially available Ubuntu phone in Europe, with Meizu joining for a second phone line. The Aquaris M10 is the step up from those repurposed handsets — a purpose-built tablet whose Convergence mode lets it serve as a desktop when docked to keyboard, mouse and display.
First-order effects
- Buyers get a sub-$300-class device (pre-orders opened at $291 per the follow-up coverage) that replaces both a tablet and an entry desktop, making BQ the first OEM to ship Convergence in a non-phone form factor.
Second-order effects
- Convergence puts the M10 in competition with budget laptops and tablet-keyboard hybrids rather than just iPads and Android slates, pressuring BQ's Android tablet lineup and giving Canonical a desktop beachhead it never had through phones alone.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern from repurposed phone to purpose-built tablet continues, mid-range OEMs like BQ become the distribution channel for a mobile OS claiming the PC's role — with desktop-grade app support, not hardware, deciding whether convergence devices can actually displace entry PCs.
The trend: Mobile-first OS vendors are pursuing single-device convergence through low-cost partner OEMs, trying to enter the PC market from the tablet side rather than competing head-on with Windows.