Vertu, the formerly-owned-by-Nokia maker of eye-wateringly expensive, leather-clad, gem-encrusted, handmade-in-the-U.K. ‘luxury’ smartphones, has launched its first Android-powered device: the Vertu Ti. After leaving the Nokia fold, back in October, it was rumoured that Vertu planned to do what many a Nokia fan still wishes that company would do: ditch Symbian and adopt Android. → Read More
Word has come through that Nokia has completed its sale of luxury phone brand Vertu to EQT VI. But TechCrunch has heard sources that Anssi Vanjoki, the 20-year Nokia veteran who resigned back in 2010, will be named the new CEO of Vertu. → Read More
Here’s a sad, and slightly ridiculous, coda to the story of Vertu, Nokia’s wrong turn into making bling-tastic handsets encrusted with diamonds and gold: a servant in China convicted of stealing one from her boss has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined 20,000 yuan (over $3,000).
The story, as published in the English edition of the Chinese People’s Daily Online, notes that Ms Zhang… → Read More
Nokia is reportedly in talks with a private equity group called EQT in an attempt to sell off its independent subsidiary, Vertu.
Vertu is an ultra-luxury phone brand operating independently within Nokia that makes high-end phones with stainless steel, ceramics, carbon fiber. They phones even feature sapphires and rubies as buttons.
Reuters reports that the Vertu price tag is around €200… → Read More
Reuters is reporting that Nokia is exploring selling the Vertu phone line to holding company Permira for $264.26 million, freeing itself from the difficult process of selling phones no one wants to people who should know better. Nokia called Vertu a “non-core asset.” → Read More
As Nokia struggles to establish itself as a worthy competitor to Apple and the Android bulldozer in the smartphone segment, the company is looking to sell off its wholly-owned luxury phone brand Vertu, reports the Financial Times.
Vertu, which sells some of the world’s most expensive ugly phones, was originally started by Nokia back in 1998. → Read More
That was a long sayonara: in November 2008, Nokia decided to pull the plug on their Japan operations, at the same time announcing they will re-enter the market with their luxury sub-brand Vertu. They started offering those phones (and the services that come with them) in September 2009, but now decided to give up on this business in Japan, too. → Read More
Got $310,000 to spend on a phone like the Vertu Signature Cobra? No? Hm. How about $83,000, for the Vertu Signature Diamond. Still no? Well, crap. Oh! Okay, here: how about somewhere between $4,000 and $7,000 for the new Vertu Constellation Quest? That’s totally reasonable, right? Not feelin’ it? Check out the video after the jump. In just two minutes, Vertu will fully convince you as… → Read More
Nokia pulled out of Japan, one of the world’s biggest mobile markets, as early as November 2008. But because this country is quite wealthy, the Finnish company decided to conquer Japan with their luxury brand Vertu [JP], starting operations in September 2009. Initially the plan was to market handsets priced between $16,000 and $50,000.
But today Vertu Japan announced a “golden” handset with a… → Read More
Vertu, French for “virtue,” has a pink phone just in time for Valentine’s Day. It’s the Constellation Ayxt only it’s pink. Fascinating. → Read More
You know the Vertu phones, right? The over-priced Nokias sold in watch stores and casinos? Well, soon there will be over-priced accessories sold along side them in a pen, Bluetooth headset, and microSD card reader. How fun. Your next date will be so impressed. → Read More
Japan is a tough market to crack for many non-Japanese cell phone makers, and even the world’s leading cell phone maker, Nokia, had to give up its Japan operations after having failed to gain a foothold in this country (in November last year). But they’re trying again, this time with their luxury brand Vertu. → Read More
Apparently this phone is getting ready for a big Muay Thai match. It’s a Vertu—“vertu” is “virture” in French!—designed by one Norihiko Inoue. No, you cannot buy it, I just thought it looked neat. → Read More
In November 2008, Nokia gave up Japan (where its market share hovered around a mere one percent for years) but now comes back with Vertu Japan [JP], its luxury brand. Vertu today opened a flagship store in Ginza, Tokyo’s upmarket area. → Read More
Ah, Russia. Home to a well-olied kleptocracy, Andrei Arshavin and, apparently, incredibly wealthy people who don’t know what to do with their money. (See: Roman Abramovich et al.) As such, we really shouldn’t be too surprised to see this new Vertu cellphone on a Russian luxury blog. As you can see, it, the Vertu Boucheron 150, looks just like that other Vertu luxury phone, but this one… → Read More
Nokia, the world’s leading mobile phone maker, announced it would stop selling and marketing its handsets in Japan because the market share remained flat over too many years (hovering at around 1% vs. around 38% worldwide). One of Nokia’s vice presidents said: “In the current global economic climate, we have concluded that the continuation of our investment in Japan-specific product… → Read More
Japan has always been a tough market crack for Nokia, the world’s biggest cell phone manufacturer. While the Finnish company boasts a 40 percent share of global handset sales, this figure has been steady at about 1 percent in Japan. Now it has come to light that Nokia plans to launch an MVNO with Nippon’s No. 1 cell phone carrier Docomo starting in either February or March next year. → Read More
In this economy, nothing says “I got bailed out” like a Vertu Constellation covered with diamonds. This beautiful cellphone is perfect for calling up old Lehman CEOs to plan a quick golf game and long hunting trips with AIG execs. Priced at who-the-frak-cares, this phone is the piece d’resistance of douchery. → Read More
I’ve never been more in agreement with Wired than I am at this very moment. "Everything here is a crap gadget with diamonds glued on it," says Rob Beschizza in his post called The Worst Diamond-Encrusted Gadgets Of All Time. I’d go a step further and make the claim that diamonds don’t belong anywhere near gadgets. Let the gadget itself do the talking. If it’s… → Read More
This is a bit off-topic, but it has quite a bit to do with electronics and boutique home audio so let’s begin. Luxury items have always been status symbols and, increasingly, commodity products. This nasty mix creates a drive to sell more product at luxury prices, which is good for the companies but not so good for the consumer. Dana Thomas’ book, Deluxe claws at — but can… → Read More
I’m glad Nokia made the Vertu line. They deserve to have a little fun. But a $7,000 cellphone is just about the upper limit of what I can accept in the luxury market. Dear Oil-rich Sultans and Oligarchs: send me your old Nokia and I’ll dip it in golden paint and send it back to you for $3,500. You’ll get the same effect while spending half of what you’d normally spend on a… → Read More
Hey! Need a new phone? Don’t want the iPhone but still wanna flaunt your money? Check out the Vertu Constellation, now in a beautiful rose gold color. It’s available in black leather only, because it’s more special than the regular gold-version. Scratch-resistant and chock full o’ laser-engraved keys, this phone will set you back at least $8000, possibly more since… → Read More
Rollin’ in mah Bentley Cruisin down the street Got bling on my wrists, ankles neck and teeth Got a call on my cellie Yo let me show you it This Vertu Ascent T has gotta be the shit It’s not out yet Still with tha FCC But I got a unit Cause I got 10,000 Gs → Read More
Some gadgets are good-looking — chances are the look of your cell phone was a major concern when you went shopping. Then again, some gadgets are ugly. Very, very ugly. We’ve found the ugliest gadgets ever made, so you don’t have to. Some you’ve likely seen before, others you thankfully haven’t. Just believe us: You’ll never take your iPod for granted again. → Read More
Here’s a riddle for you kiddies. What costs more than a Lamborghini, has a bejeweled snake on it, and is designed for those who need compensation in their nether regions? Give up? It’s the Vertu Cobra! I totally fooled you. The Cobra costs a whopping $310,000 and comes with tons of diamonds, emeralds and an load of rubies. Don’t forget though, this is a Vertu. Which means it’s not… → Read More
The fellows with the fancy-pants over at Sybarites got their hands on a Vertu Constellation for review. If you’re just joining us, the Vertu is a luxury line of phones made by the same people who make you Nokia’s phones…Nokia. So how does this phone stack up? Well, the Nokia S40 UI is similar to other Nokia Symbian OS phones, but is “far superior graphics wise”. The… → Read More
Not content with just overcharging for cell phones, Vertu is expanding into overcharging for Bluetooth headsets as well. Designed by Jacob Jensen, this headset has a push-button answering and calling system, noise reduction, ear hook and leather pouch. No doubt these will work fine with Vertu phones, but they have no problems with regular cell phones that support Bluetooth headsets too. Honestly… → Read More
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