Roll your eyes preemptively, guys. Vertu might make wearables. Does Vertu sound familiar? If not, does the $22,000 smartphone ring any bells? That phone, the Signature Touch, was made by the company named Vertu, who also famously made a ‘dumb phone’ costing tens of thousands of dollars (USD) called the Vertu Signature. The device was followed up with a mid-level device called the Constellation, with the most recent and highest-priced being the Signature Touch (whose price begins around $13,000, but can be raised by choice of materials to $22,000). But the company is considering a foray into the realm of wearables, but timed differently. Let me explain.
Vertu is famous for the price on a device, dumb or smart, and for charging hundreds of dollars for wireless charging or Bluetooth speakers, regardless of who manufactures them. Engadget was able to interview the CEO of Vertu, Max Pogliani, who is now celebrating an anniversary with the premium company. The chief let Engadget know that the company is receptive to their customers’ feedback and ideas for types and features of and for the company’s products, since they invest greatly in just one device. Engadget wrote that “unlike most of our readers, Vertu customers aren’t early adopters of technology”, and I must agree with regards to Android Headlines as well, since most of us want to be on the cutting edge with ownership and on the up-and-up with the latest news.
Similarly, Pogliani compared the customers that buy and own multiple Vertu devices (which I still can’t understand the reasoning behind, but anyway) to those that collect cars, suits, wines, and watches. He mentioned how the people that support Vertu with their purchases want items ‘with real substance’ instead of just something to show off. Wine is meant for drinking, not storing forever; watches are meant for wearing and comfort, not keeping cases; cars are transportation at various speeds with various levels of customer service and reliability from the car and manufacturer; and suits are for looking fancy, sharp and professional, which fits perfectly if you work a higher-up position in a company where your casual is simply unbuttoning your jacket. As much as some might disagree with the reasoning of Vertu and the company’s goals, they can’t say that the pricey group is not listening to customers and releasing devices and accessories to enhance the richness of the already-riches’ lives. The company, as mentioned before, is looking into and working (possibly) on wearables for the richest.
Also worth noting are the markets that Vertu has seen the greatest success in, just to get a scope for who they make their devices for. Vertu has apparently gotten much of its business from China and Russia, which seem strange, except when considering the large discrepancies between social classes, even when just considering income, and then it seems logical (the fact that the rich buy expensive things, not the discrepancies). Stay tuned to catch any wind about the developments involving five-digit price tags and things that go on your wrist.