Nokia Oyj, the largest mobile-phone maker, will begin selling luxury handsets encased in precious metals, leather and crystal through a new unit created to cater to an elite group of customers.
The phones are available in five models -- from the top-end platinum, through 18 carat gold, white gold and two stainless steel models -- at prices ranging from 6,000 to 24,000 euros (US$21,196).
The new company, called Vertu Ltd, was conceived five years ago by Nokia's creative director and designer Frank Nuovo. His goal was to ``blend time-honored traditions of craftsmanship and luxury to modern day telecommunications equipment,'' said Danielle Keighery, a spokeswoman for Vertu.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Their introduction comes after a year in which mobile phone sales are expected to have declined for the first time. Nokia estimated last month that industry handset sales fell about 6 percent to 380 million last year. It predicts an increase of as much as 16 percent this year to 440 million -- less than a third of the average growth rate in the years 1998 through 2000.
Luxury phones are aimed at people who are less touched by economic turmoil, Keighery said. "We don't see our business running on the ups and downs in the financial market."
Assembled by hand, the luxury phones feature more than 400 mechanical parts, including 18 jeweled bearings inside a case of precious metal. Their development has led to more than 20 new patents, Nokia said. The sapphire crystal face on the phone is made by the same Swiss company that makes faces for Rolex watches. A thin leather strip on the side of the phones is Connolly leather, the same hide found on seats of Rolls-Royce Plc automobiles.
Upgrades The phones are reinforced with titanium, which is four times as rigid as steel but half the weight, and have ceramic backs.
Ruby bearings, typically used for watches and precise measuring instruments, are fitted under the keys to extend life expectancy to 5 million presses, compared with the average 1 million.
Unlike regular mobile phones the Vertu phones won't become outdated, the company said. The insides are separate from the outside casing, allowing them to be upgraded. The initial products, for example, won't be equipped for General Packet Radio Service technology, but as that system is developed the phones can be brought up to speed, Keighery said.
Initially, Vertu will sell the phones by invitation only through five "private client suites" in London, New York, Los Angeles, Singapore and Hong Kong. In May, Vertu will open a boutique in Paris and then follow in other cities.
Peter Ashall, who was previously vice president of concept and design at Nokia and also worked at Motorola Corp, becomes president of Vertu, overseeing 200 employees from a mix of industries including craftsmen, precision engineers and specialists from the jewelry industry.
Motorola Inc last year introduced removable faceplates encrusted with gold and diamonds as an option on its V66 handsets, which sell for between US$300 and US$3,000.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
SECURITY RISK: If there is a conflict between China and Taiwan, ‘there would likely be significant consequences to global economic and security interests,’ it said China remains the top military and cyber threat to the US and continues to make progress on capabilities to seize Taiwan, a report by US intelligence agencies said on Tuesday. The report provides an overview of the “collective insights” of top US intelligence agencies about the security threats to the US posed by foreign nations and criminal organizations. In its Annual Threat Assessment, the agencies divided threats facing the US into two broad categories, “nonstate transnational criminals and terrorists” and “major state actors,” with China, Russia, Iran and North Korea named. Of those countries, “China presents the most comprehensive and robust military threat
RSS