Vertu is a British-based manufacturer and retailer of luxury mobile phones.

Formerly a wholly owned subsidiary, the business is now an independently run division of the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer Nokia.

Type Industry Founded Headquarters Key people

Wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia Consumer electronics 1998 Church Crookham, Hampshire Perry Oosting (President and COO) Frank Nuovo (head of design)

Products Website

Luxury mobile phones http://www.vertu.com

Concept
Vertu designs and manufactures luxury mobile phones. The most expensive model it has ever made is the Signature Cobra, at 213,000 (~$310,000); the most expensive regular model is the Signature Diamond at 55,000 (~$83,000). Prices start at 3500 for the Constellation model. Other models include: Ascent, Constellation, Ascent Ti, Ascent 2010, Ayxta and Quest. The standard Ascent models come in many different colors, such as: Black, Brown, Red and Orange.

The Special Edition models come in White, Azure Blue and Pink. The Summer Collection models come in Strawberry Red and White. Variations of the Ascent also include the Racetrack Editions and Ferrari Edition. The original Ascent is no longer being produced, though the Constellation, Ascent Ti and Signature are still in production. There is a redesigned model of the Ascent, the Ascent 2010 currently in production. Many of the models are made using precious materials such as gold, sapphire (for the mobile screen), rubies (for the bearings) and fine leather. Each mobile is hand-made in its factories in Church Crookham, Hampshire, England. The business is based in the United Kingdom with offices in Paris, New York, Las Vegas, Singapore, Tokyo, Frankfurt, and Hong Kong. Vertu's president and COO is Perry Oosting, and the Principal Designer is Frank Nuovo. The business currently has over 600 employees.

Operating Systems
Previous and current Vertu phones run Symbian. Future Vertu smart-phones will

run Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Operating System.

Distribution
Vertu mobiles are only available in its own branded stores, concessions in leading department stores such as Harrods and Selfridges in London, and other authorized retailers. Vertus flagship store opened in 2002 in Paris and then soon after in Singapore. There are now over 600 retail outlets, including one at Wynn Las Vegas.

Concierge service
One of the services acquired with a Vertu mobile is a year's free concierge service called "Vertu Concierge", operated by a number of providers worldwide. It is accessed through a special button, the "Concierge key", on the side of every phone.

Markets
Nokia phones have never been popular in Japan. Despite once having four stores in Japan, at the end of July 2011, Nokia closed the last store selling Vertu cell phones in Ginza.