Following the confirmation earlier today that Vertu has been shut down due to financial debacles, the British luxury phone maker just announced that it has plans to relaunch the brand with new services in tow.
Vertu, via its official website, has revealed that it will focus on "a completely new, next generation suite of services" which is set to be launched in September. The company, however, did not specifically mentioned which way it is going and what services it is planning to introduce later this year.
"We have taken the difficult decision to suspend our current Vertu services and focus on developing a completely new, next generation suite of services, exclusively for our customers," states Vertu. "We plan to launch these new services from September 2017 and update this page closer to launch with further information."
The BBC first reported Vertu's closure and it noted that Hakan Uzan, the Turkish owner who is in exile in Paris, has retained the brand, technology, and licenses. There has been no clue which services Vertu is pursuing but from the statement, it is most likely getting away from hardware products.
Vertu is known for manufacturing top of the line jewel-coated phones. Nokia founded it in 1998, and the company had been handed down from multiple ownerships since. Despite efforts to save the company, financial debacles have brought Vertu six feet under. The publication said nearly 200 employees are affected by the said closure.
HIS Technology analyst Ian Fogg said it is impractical to produce a small number of phones and sell it at a hefty price. Vertu phones are ridiculously costly considering they are handcrafted with jewels into the bargain. The Vertu Signature Touch line starts at £11,100 (US$14,377), while the variant rippled with 18-carat red gold costs £39,100 (US$50,644).
Fogg stressed that Vertu is having a difficulty finding its ground in the market as there are competitive companies who are offering consumers to customize their phones with valuable gems and metals as an alternative. Latest Vertu phones have screens that are made of synthetic sapphire, a technology that Apple attempted to apply for its iPhone line years ago but to no avail due to production issues. Synthetic sapphire is much sturdier than Corning Gorilla Glass.
