Vertú
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Founder | Nokia |
| Headquarters | Church Crookham, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom |
|
Area served
|
Worldwide |
|
Key people
|
Gordon Watson (Chief Executive Officer) |
| Products | Luxury mobile phones |
|
Number of employees
|
1000 |
| Parent | Godin Holdings |
| Website | Vertu.com |
Vertu is a British 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,, but retained a 10% share. 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. In 2015, it was announced that EQT had sold its share of Vertu to Godin Holdings, a Hong Kong-based holding company.
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?". Vertu phones, or "'mobile communications instruments" are made in its factories in Church Crookham, Hampshire, England. Handsets are sold through an emphasis on craftsmanship, style and service, rather than mobile phone functions. The business is based in the United Kingdom with offices in New York City, Dubai, Moscow, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Paris and Singapore. In November Massimiliano Pogliani was replaced by Billy Crotty as Vertu's CEO, who in turn was replaced by Gordon Watson three months later. The business has around 1000 employees.
The flagship model is called the Signature. Its key pad contains nearly 5 carats of ruby bearings. Other models are Ascent, Constellation Classic, Constellation Ayxta, along with smartphones Constellation Quest, and the Constellation (released October 2011). 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 colors. The Quest is the first smartphone by Vertu, equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard made from sapphire sculpted keys. This was followed by Constellation in 2011 which was the company's first touchscreen model.
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Wikipedia