does jolla launches budget smartphone? [not relevant]

Well, comparing a wearable computer like jolla to a mere android phone isn't exactly fair... ;-)

My guess is that the next jolla (could we call it J2 for simplicity?) will have more horsepower than the current phone (that we could call J1) in a phone with probably the same size.

But the phone after J2 might be smaller and perhaps even cheaper. The Sailfish OS is the key to this. It is much more efficient than Android and yet it is also more capable. The amount of bloat that the processor has to lug around is smaller.

There's a thread about creating a smaller Jolla phone and I guess it would be a good idea to have a look at it. Some of the ideas there could be beneficial for cheaper phones too.

This would be a perfect place to talk about a cheaper phone.

What are the minimum specs?

I assume that the current jolla will become the budget jolla once a new device with more performance is out. But no idea how cheap the current jolla will be.

Well, there wasn't much interest in the price category in the smaller Jolla thread either... But the idea of a budget phone is good nonetheless.

Some other manufacturer could pick up the idea. ...hopefully.