The trouble is Canonical is and has always been a software company, and Apple is a hardware company (or at least its roots were).
To make Canonical in a hardware direction under the Canonical brand, at a level to compete with existing hardware manufacturers, would take a fantastic amount of investment.
They are making steps in partnering with hardware manufacturers, see the recent Dell linux laptop, and the OEM engineering services they provide for e.g. set top box manufacturers.
But I think it's unlikely you will see Ubuntu brand hardware any time soon.
Nowdays I think Chinese manufactures make it pretty easy to grab one of those unbranded computers and just sell it with your own brand. Is this not the case?
Simply rebranding basic hardware isn't going to compete with the likes of Apple.
Cheap and cheerful (read: shoddy) hardware would quickly damage the Ubuntu brand, and the good hardware is locked up tight by the big brands. Canonical would need to put in some serious volume or R&D of their own to get good hardware that would lead to a viable Ubuntu hardware brand.
Ubuntu users, at least at the moment, are quite picky about the specs of their PCs.
The way to go would definitely be partnering, and Dell is an obvious choice. There could be a "Ubuntu by Dell" brand, with a "white-label" Dell store under the Ubuntu domain, and they would work together to make sure all hardware is fully supported, is tested and ships with sensible defaults. On the other side, Dell would work with Canonical to make sure only supportable components are sourced, and even, over time, apply mild pressure on its suppliers to provide decent drivers.
Dell (or whoever does this) could win considerable dev/geek sympathy and mindshare with a move like this.
To make Canonical in a hardware direction under the Canonical brand, at a level to compete with existing hardware manufacturers, would take a fantastic amount of investment.
They are making steps in partnering with hardware manufacturers, see the recent Dell linux laptop, and the OEM engineering services they provide for e.g. set top box manufacturers.
But I think it's unlikely you will see Ubuntu brand hardware any time soon.