I agree there's a good opportunity for simpler phones that still get some of the benefits of smartphones rather than a 10 year old Nokia.
That said, I don't see much in the article to suggest this is what Mozilla is going after. Yes, some of the devices will be cheap, but there are plenty of cheap Android and Windows phones too.
Even if an OS did target just this market, the problem would still be a lack of apps. They might not be the kind of users who install 10 home screens full of apps, but many of them will be interested in a handful of apps in different categories, so the long-tail marketplace still matters. That's where there's an advantage to an Android phone customised for simple usage, but still with the ability for a user (or their tech-savvy friends/family) to install a wide range of apps if/when they want to.
They do talk about that market to a certain extent in the article, which I was glad to see.
I think on limited apps, it's worth saying that beyond a relatively small number of apps like Facebook or WhatsApp, someone moving from a feature phone won't necessarily have any interest in existing apps on other systems. In general they won't want Google Maps or Waze or Telenav Scout (and won't ask for those while buying the phone), they want to type 'directions' or 'weather' and have something useful come up.
That lowers the barrier to entry, although of course there is still the basic requirement that enough useful apps are there, which imo doesn't yet currently apply on FxOS.
There are other articles that do go into an initiative from Mozilla, Telefónica, Verizon and other phone companies to make flip and slider phones using a version of the OS with a simpler interface.
That said, I don't see much in the article to suggest this is what Mozilla is going after. Yes, some of the devices will be cheap, but there are plenty of cheap Android and Windows phones too.
Even if an OS did target just this market, the problem would still be a lack of apps. They might not be the kind of users who install 10 home screens full of apps, but many of them will be interested in a handful of apps in different categories, so the long-tail marketplace still matters. That's where there's an advantage to an Android phone customised for simple usage, but still with the ability for a user (or their tech-savvy friends/family) to install a wide range of apps if/when they want to.