Canonical UK Ltd. develops and supplies software solutions for individuals and businesses. The Company provides software platform that powers desktops, laptops, netbooks, and servers, as well as offers custom engineering, support contracts, and training services. Canonical UK serves customers worldwide.

Canonical Ltd. is a UK-based privately held computer software company founded and funded by South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth to market commercial support and related services for Ubuntu and related projects.

2007, Canonical launched an International online shop selling support services and Ubuntu-branded goods; later in 2008 it expanded that with a United States-specific shop designed to reduce shipment times.^[17] At the same time, the word Ubuntu was trademarked in connection with clothing and accessories.^[18]

In a Guardian interview in May 2008, Shuttleworth said that Canonical’s business model was service provision and that Canonical was not yet close to profitability. Canonical stated that it would wait three to five years to become profitable. Shuttleworth regarded Canonical as positioning itself as demand for services related to free software rose. This strategy has been compared to Red Hat‘s business strategies in the 1990s.^[19] In an early-2009 New York Times article, Shuttleworth said that Canonical’s revenue was “creeping” towards US$30 million, the company’s break-even point.^[20]

Canonical achieved a small operating profit of $281,000 in 2009, but until 2017 struggled to maintain financial solvency and took a major financial hit from the development of Unity and Ubuntu Touch, leading to an operating loss of $21.6 million for the fiscal year 2013.^[21] The company reported an operating profit of $2 million in 2017 after shutting down the Unity development team and laying off nearly 200 employees. The company now plans to focus on its server and professional support solutions,^[buzzword] which have proved to be most profitable. Through this, Canonical plans to maintain solvency and achieve long-term profitability.^[