Vertu

Vertu
Subsidiary
Industry Telecommunications
Founded 1998
Founder Nokia
Defunct July 2017
Headquarters Church Crookham, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
Area served
 Worldwide
Products Luxury mobile phones
Number of employees
 1000
Parent Baferton Ltd.
Website Vertu.com

Vertu was a British-based manufacturer and retailer of luxury handmade mobile phones, established by Finnish mobile-phone manufacturer Nokia in 1998. In October 2012, Nokia sold Vertu to private equity group EQT VI for an unspecified amount,[1][2] but retained a 10% share.[3] By the end of 2013, the company had around 350,000 customers, and phones were on sale in 500 retail outlets, including 70 run by the company.[4] In 2015, it was announced that EQT had sold its share of Vertu to Godin Holdings, a Hong Kong-based holding company.[5][6] In 2017, the company collapsed after plans to save it failed and went out of business in early July 2017, leaving its residual staff of 200 unpaid and unemployed.[7] After going bankrupt, Godin Holdings in 2017 sold to Baferton Ltd. a Cyprus-based Turkish company.

Concept

According to The Economist, the concept was to market phones explicitly as fashion accessories, with the idea "if you can spend $20,000 on a watch, why not on a mobile phone?"[8] Vertu phones, or "'mobile communications instruments"[9] were made in its factories in Church Crookham, Hampshire, England. Handsets were sold through an emphasis on craftsmanship, style and service, rather than mobile phone functions.[8] The business was based in the United Kingdom with offices in New York City, Dubai, Moscow, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Paris and Singapore. In November 2015, Massimiliano Pogliani was replaced by Billy Crotty as Vertu's CEO, who in turn was replaced by Gordon Watson three months later.[10][11]

Collection

Vertu was launched in January 2002 and the first collection available later that year.[12] The flagship model "Signature" was launched in 2003. Its key pad contains nearly 5 carats of ruby bearings. Other models include Ascent (2004), Constellation Classic (2006), Constellation Ayxta (2009), among others. Ascent phones are designed to be lightweight and durable, made of aluminium or titanium with vulcanised rubber and leather. The Classics are simple and small handsets. Ayxtas are flip phones that come in numerous variants and colours. In 2006, Vertu produced and released the Aerius Bluetooth Headset designed by Timothy Jacob Jensen.[13]

The Constellation Quest is the first smartphone by Vertu, equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard made from sapphire sculpted keys. Announced in October 2010, it is similarly styled to the Nokia E72 and runs the Symbian S60 operating system. It was priced from £5,000 (stainless steel and leather) to £17,300 (yellow gold).[14] This was followed by Constellation in October 2011, the company's first touchscreen model.[15] In February 2013, the Vertu Ti was the first Vertu handset after Nokia's sale, and uses the Android mobile operating system instead of Symbian. This was followed in June 2014, by Signature Touch.[16] The Signature Touch's price ranged from $10,300/€7,900 for the base model to over $50,000/€44,000 for the Pure Jet Red Gold.[7]

Vertu also made limited edition handsets in collaboration with Ferrari,[17] and Bentley.[18]

The 2015 version of the Signature Touch was the latest Vertu handset before the company collapsed in 2017.[7]

Criticism

Vertu phones have been described as "tasteless trash" by Wired magazine,[19] and "technologically modest" by the Financial Times.[20] They are often described as bling.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "EQT's Current Portfolio – Vertu". Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "Vertu: it makes sense for Nokia to sell us". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  3. ↑ "Nokia will retain 10% share in Vertu". Retrieved 15 June 2012.
  4. ↑ "Vertu chooses Android over Windows for luxury handset". BBC News. 11 February 2013. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  5. ↑ "Controversy surrounds $61 million deal for luxury smartphone maker Vertu". digitaltrends.com. 13 March 2017. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  6. ↑ "Luxury British phone maker Vertu sold to Chinese investors as CEO steps down". International Business Times. 3 November 2015. Retrieved 4 November 2015. ,
  7. 1 2 3 Baraniuk, Chris (13 July 2017). "Luxury phone-maker Vertu collapses". BBC News. Retrieved 14 July 2017.
  8. 1 2 "The origins of Vertu". The Economist. 20 February 2003. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  9. ↑ Jonathan Margolis (5 December 2008). "Bling bling! The £1m mobile, hand-crafted in solid gold and encrusted with jewels – just don't leave it on the train..." Daily Mail. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  10. ↑ Richard Lai. "Chinese-owned Vertu vows to keep making luxury phones in the UK". Engadget. AOL.
  11. ↑ "Vertu's sudden CEO swap spells trouble after Chinese buyout". Engadget. 9 February 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  12. ↑ "Vertu Launches the World's Most Exclusive Instrument for Personal Communication - Nokia". Nokia. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  13. ↑ "Vertu". Jacob Jensen Design.
  14. ↑ "Vertu Constellation Quest: The blingtastic £17,300 smart phone". cnet.com. 14 October 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  15. ↑ "Vertu Launch Party: Hollywood Stars Try Out the New Constellation". 19 October 2011. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  16. ↑ "Vertu's Signature Touch combines top tech with a concierge". Wired UK.
  17. ↑ "Vertu, Ferrari Team Up for Titanium Phone",
  18. ↑ "Want to really impress at the boat club? Get a Bentley premium smartphone made by Vertu". yahoo.com. Retrieved 19 March 2018.
  19. ↑ Rob Beschizza (19 March 2008). "Eight Things We Pretend to Care About, But Don't". Gadget Lab. Retrieved 28 April 2013.
  20. ↑ "Nokia prepares to lose its bling tone". Financial Times.
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