Hoping to be the Finn end of the
wedge
Finnish mobile phone outfit Nokia is hoping to peddle its luxury
mobile phone range in that graveyard of western technology markets,
Japan.
Vertu, owned by Finnish cellphone giant Nokia, will this year begin
offering mobile services in Japan under a joint agreement with Nokia
Siemens. The cunning plan is that Vertu will become a so-called Mobile
Virtual Network Operator , thus becoming the first mobile phone maker to
encroach on the Japanese service provider domain, which has been dominated by
domestic companies.
Vertu stuff is really expensive. It makes handcrafted
handsets that are often embellished with titanium, gold, jewels and
crystal. Nokia Siemens has been contracted to host Vertu's MVNO service from
its Singapore hosting centre.
Last November, Nokia pulled out of the Japanese
market due to disappointing sales.
