TechCrunch: Vertu Migrates to Android

According to TechCrunch techblog sources, Nokia’s former Vertu luxury phone division is switching to Android smartphones.

In June this year, the Finnish company began negotiations on the sale of the Vertu brand and the production facilities of the Swedish investment company EQT ; while the amount of the transaction was to be 200 million euros (according to rumors). Apparently, the deal was completed, and the company with the new owners will be headed by one of Nokia veterans with 20 years of experience, whose Finnish name sounds like Anssi Vanjoki.

In 2010, Anssi Vanjoki resigned from a managerial position at Nokia, and this decision was puzzled by many, as he was considered one of the key figures in the company. Anssi Vanjoki later explained his decision by saying that he could not have taken the position of CEO of Nokia, which, obviously, is an explicit reference to Stephen Elop, who reoriented the company to work with Microsoft.

Reportedly, the operating system of the new Vertu devices will not be Windows Phone, but the Android system (while the “native” version for Vertu with Symbian is not considered viable). It is interesting to note that many experts after the plans for the sale of Vertu became known were confident that the new system would be just Windows Phone, because it “looks more stylish and luxurious” than Android, which is associated with cheap Chinese smartphones and with only a few top solutions from Samsung, Motorola and Sony.

[ Source ]