World's First Luxury Mobile Phone Company Launched

[afang]

The world's first luxury mobile phone company was launched by Nokia (news/quote) on Monday, offering hand-crafted cellular phones, adorned with gold or platinum, and costing more than $20,000.

Vertu Ltd., a new independently run subsidiary of Nokia, will start selling its phone range at its stores in some of the most exclusive shopping areas in the United States, Europe and Asia by mid-2002, the company said.

The first devices, costing a staggering $21,240, will be cased in platinum, display a sapphire crystal glass screen and offer a sound as clear as a Mozart symphony, Vertu said in connection with the company's launch in Paris during the fashion show week.

The heart of the phone -- the technology that allows users to make and receive calls, use calendars, contact books and games -- will be specially designed for its super-rich customers.

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, hopes the Vertu brand will create a new segment in the high-profit luxury goods market at a time when mobile phone sales are slowing after years of runaway growth.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/techn...ia-luxury.html

[afang]

The world's first luxury mobile phone company was launched by Nokia (news/quote) on Monday, offering hand-crafted cellular phones, adorned with gold or platinum, and costing more than $20,000.

Vertu Ltd., a new independently run subsidiary of Nokia, will start selling its phone range at its stores in some of the most exclusive shopping areas in the United States, Europe and Asia by mid-2002, the company said.

The first devices, costing a staggering $21,240, will be cased in platinum, display a sapphire crystal glass screen and offer a sound as clear as a Mozart symphony, Vertu said in connection with the company's launch in Paris during the fashion show week.

The heart of the phone -- the technology that allows users to make and receive calls, use calendars, contact books and games -- will be specially designed for its super-rich customers.

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, hopes the Vertu brand will create a new segment in the high-profit luxury goods market at a time when mobile phone sales are slowing after years of runaway growth.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/techn...ia-luxury.html