Canonical's Ubuntu Touch operating system may be making its way to consumer markets sooner than we think.

Mark Shuttleworth, Canonical's founder, has revealed to CNET that the company's Ubuntu Touch OS will soon be headed for mobile phones that will be made by an anonymous smartphone maker. The OS will make its way to "high-end" phones next year, per the agreement.

"Canonical has just signed its first deal to supply a smartphone with its mobile operating system, Canonical founder and product strategy leader Mark Shuttleworth revealed in an interview here at the LeWeb conference. He wouldn't say which company has agreed to use the Linux-based OS, but said it will be offered on high-end phones in 2014," reports CNET.

Earlier in January this year, Canonical had promised that by early 2014, consumers will be able to lay their hands on devices that ran a standalone version of Ubuntu. However, the company's goal hit troubled waters as the crowdfunding for the company's Edge smartphone missed the target badly.

Now, with Canonical clearing the first set of agreements, the road ahead for Ubuntu looks positive.

"We have concluded our first set of agreements to ship Ubuntu on mobile phones," Shuttleworth said. "We've shifted gears from 'making a concept' to 'it's going to ship.' That has a big impact on the team."

Shuttleworth also revealed that the company was in discussions with several other phone makers.

"We are now pretty much at the board level on four household brands. They sell a lot of phones all over the world, in emerging and fully emerged markets, to businesses and consumers."

While the progress made by Canonical is significant, considering the company is barely 9 years old, it has a long way to go before the Linux-based OS can give Google's Android and Apple's iOS a run for their money.