Vertu, a subsidiary of Nokia, the world’s largest maker of cell phones, said Friday it would increase production of its luxurious mobile phones, as the demand towards expensive mobile phones exceeds expectations.
“At the moment we cannot meet demand. Sales are more than doubling this year. We hope that pace will continue also next year,” Chris Harris, Vertu’s marketing director, told Reuters on the sidelines of a news conference.
Vertu makes luxurious cell phones which cost starting from Ђ4500 (about $5773). Those phones cannot boast with state-of-the-art feature-set, however, they are hand-made and may involve precious metals, individual engraving, special manufacturing technologies and so on.
It is unknown how many mobile phones sells Vertu, however, it seems that there are tens of thousands per year, a considerably less than 330 million of cell phones sold by Nokia itself. However, it should be taken into account that average selling price of a Nokia phone is about Ђ100 (about $128), whereas Vertu phones’ price starts at Ђ4500 (about $5773).

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“We are not in the hundreds of thousands [per year] yet, but our aspirations are there,” Mr. Harris is reported to have said.
In September the company is expected to release a new model of Vertu phone. Usually product launches of high-end accessories boost immediate demand for them to a new level, therefore, the company may see demand for its phones rising significantly again.




