END OF THE ROAD FOR VERTU, THE PREFERRED PHONES FOR BILLIONAIRES

As the fork was considered an extravagant luxury when Catherine De Medici introduced it to the French in the 16th Century, so do mere mortals see Vertu phones. Among billionaires, especially those who delight in gaudy show offs, the Vertu phone is a must have.

Described as a mobile phone that costs more than a brand new car, the Vertu, which presented itself as the ‘purveyor of the finest luxury mobile phones’, sold for between N3million and N12million. Though you certainly can’t argue with the aesthetics, as the handsets come in such decadent cladding as titanium and alligator-hide leather, the Vertu, described as a beauty without brain, was generally believed to be a time bomb waiting to happen because its features did not match its pricing. Now, a death knell has sounded on the maker of the deluxe handsets for the super rich. With a debt of £128 million, including a £2.5m debt to Microsoft which it subleases its headquarters from, Vertu has been forced to close shop and go into liquidation. This demise came with the loss of over 200 jobs and a litany of legal suits.