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Last year Nokia sold 90% of its luxury arm Vertu to EQT. The new owners want to change how things are run under the hood and are preparing to adopt Android for its uber-expensive smartphones.
We still don’t know when the first Android-based Vertu smartphone will launch, but we’re sure it won’t be an Average Joe’s next mobile device. In fact, according to Mobile-Review’s Eldar Murtazin, the cheapest Vertu smartphone will cost 3,000 EUR. That’s more than $4,000 by today’s exchange, making it a tough sell for the vast majority of users. Then again, phones wearing the Vertu brand were never marketed to mainstream consumers with the likes of Russian oligarchs buying out the Vertu’s stock in no time at all.
Russian insider (Eldar) goes on suggesting that the first Vertu Android smartphone, most probably Nokia 8800 Legacy, could be unveiled by the end of February. That coincides with Mobile World Congress though I doubt Vertu will use such a big event to launch its niche product; they’ll rather organize a small press event for folks in the luxury industry, instead.
Anyway, we’ll make sure to get back to you when the first super-expensive Android smartphone from Vertu launches. Stay tuned in the meantime.
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
