The ‘Vertu’al Albatross

No, I’m most certainly not referring to the hideously ugly bird, in the title.

What I’m referring to is Nokia’s British subsidiary- Vertu. What’s so shocking is that the Finnish giant never made such a huge hue and cry about its appurtenance. Coz if I were the owner of such a luxurious brand of cell phones, I would be marketing it as much as I market my blog & Twitter handle (See what I did there?).
Anyway, the crux of this article is how Nokia might just sell off its crown jewel simply to stay afloat in the market populated and dominated by the likes of iPhones, Androids and to some extent and sheer awesomeness, Windows Phones.

Vertu has been the wet dream of many cell phone addicts thanks to its exclusive albeit elusive nature. The saliva-inducing phones have sapphire, gold, rubies, crystals and almost every other precious metal you can think of, embedded on them. Each phone is hand-made by a worker stowed away by Nokia in the nooks and crannies of Hampshire. The prices for these phones start at a whopping £3500 and can go up till £213000!
 

Nokia has reportedly been looking to bring forward an extremely huge overhaul to their business. And, what exactly do you need for an overhaul?
Funds.

And, that’s precisely what Vertu’s going to bring in. The big moolah. According to a report via Financial Times, Vertu is garnering a lot of interest from unnamed private equity groups and luxury brands. But, the report also states that the matter is still quite premature and might even be a ruddy rumor. The firm which has reportedly been employed for financial advise for the stately company, is none other than Goldman Sachs. The firm still hasn’t decided on a price for the stud of a company yet but, judging by the revenues of the company (which are anywhere between 200-300 million Euros), Nokia is going to receive a much needed shot in the arm to develop better phones. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether Mr. Stephen Elop will be able to strike the hammer while the iron is still hot.