As Apple prepares premium-priced 'iPhone 8,' luxury smartphone maker Vertu collapses
Premium smartphone maker Vertu, known for extremely expensive devices made with high-end materials, has announced it will no longer build handsets. The move comes as Apple is expected to release its most expensive iPhone ever, though not quite to the exorbitant prices Vertu charged.
The British brand, which was originally created by Nokia in 1998, will cease manufacturing as it begins to liquidate its assets, resulting in a loss of about 200 jobs. The company's owner plans to retain the Vertu brand, technology, and design licenses in an effort to potentially rebuild the company, according to the Financial Times.
Over the course of its nearly 20-year history, Vertu sold about a half-million phones, making it an extremely niche -- but still known -- brand, even amongst tech enthusiasts.
Perhaps most notably for iPhone users, Vertu used sapphire crystal screens on its handsets for superior scratch resistance. Apple famously inked a $578 million contract with sapphire maker GT Advanced in 2013 that led to speculation about sapphire-screened iPhones, but GT Advanced went under, and Apple only uses sapphire to cover its Touch ID fingerprint sensor and rear camera lenses.
AppleInsider spoke with Vertu's head of design and concept creation Hutch Hutchison back in 2014 about sapphire. The company's first luxury mobile phone from the 1990s, the Signature, featured sapphire crystal screens some 14 years before Apple reached a contract with GT Advanced.
More recently, Vertu used fifth-generation solid sapphire screen technology in its Constellation smartphone, which sold for $6,630. The company boasted that its display was "virtually impossible" to scratch, as the material used was second only to diamond in its hardness.
The collapse of Vertu occurred just as Apple is rumored to be moving even higher into premium pricing and materials with this year's flagship "iPhone 8" or "iPhone Pro." Reports have suggested that Apple could charge more than $1,000 for the entry-level price for the new handset, a cost justified by new technology and premium materials.
Recent speculation has gone even further, suggesting Apple could charge more than $1,200 for a flagship professional-grade "iPhone 8" with components that could not be produced in mass quantities, such as an edge-to-edge OLED display and advanced new 3D facial recognition camera.
For the mass market, Apple is also expected to introduce a new "iPhone 7s" series at traditional pricing levels matching that of the iPhone 7 lineup and predecessors. By sticking with legacy components, like an LCD display, Apple would be able to produce tens of millions of units to meet consumer demand, while the premium "iPhone 8" would be in limited quantities at a much higher price.
Still, even if the "iPhone 8" were to approach $1,500 with higher capacities, it would still be well below the levels Vertu products reached. For example, the Vertu Signature Touch started at $10,300 when it launched in 2014.
Apple did briefly dabble in high-end luxury with the launch of the first-generation Apple Watch Edition, which came in gold and started at $10,000, but went as high as $17,000. But with the second-generation Apple Watch Series 2, Apple course corrected and opted for a more affordable ceramic Apple Watch Edition, which carries a more palatable starting price of $1,249.
Given how short-lived Apple's foray into real gold lasted with the Apple Watch Edition, it's unlikely that the company is plotting a five-figure iPhone made from rare metals. Unlike Vertu, which embraced the excess in handsets, Apple instead offers its iPhone in faux gold and rose gold aluminum. Don't expect that to change to authentic gold anytime soon.
The British brand, which was originally created by Nokia in 1998, will cease manufacturing as it begins to liquidate its assets, resulting in a loss of about 200 jobs. The company's owner plans to retain the Vertu brand, technology, and design licenses in an effort to potentially rebuild the company, according to the Financial Times.
Over the course of its nearly 20-year history, Vertu sold about a half-million phones, making it an extremely niche -- but still known -- brand, even amongst tech enthusiasts.
Perhaps most notably for iPhone users, Vertu used sapphire crystal screens on its handsets for superior scratch resistance. Apple famously inked a $578 million contract with sapphire maker GT Advanced in 2013 that led to speculation about sapphire-screened iPhones, but GT Advanced went under, and Apple only uses sapphire to cover its Touch ID fingerprint sensor and rear camera lenses.
AppleInsider spoke with Vertu's head of design and concept creation Hutch Hutchison back in 2014 about sapphire. The company's first luxury mobile phone from the 1990s, the Signature, featured sapphire crystal screens some 14 years before Apple reached a contract with GT Advanced.
More recently, Vertu used fifth-generation solid sapphire screen technology in its Constellation smartphone, which sold for $6,630. The company boasted that its display was "virtually impossible" to scratch, as the material used was second only to diamond in its hardness.
The collapse of Vertu occurred just as Apple is rumored to be moving even higher into premium pricing and materials with this year's flagship "iPhone 8" or "iPhone Pro." Reports have suggested that Apple could charge more than $1,000 for the entry-level price for the new handset, a cost justified by new technology and premium materials.
Recent speculation has gone even further, suggesting Apple could charge more than $1,200 for a flagship professional-grade "iPhone 8" with components that could not be produced in mass quantities, such as an edge-to-edge OLED display and advanced new 3D facial recognition camera.
For the mass market, Apple is also expected to introduce a new "iPhone 7s" series at traditional pricing levels matching that of the iPhone 7 lineup and predecessors. By sticking with legacy components, like an LCD display, Apple would be able to produce tens of millions of units to meet consumer demand, while the premium "iPhone 8" would be in limited quantities at a much higher price.
Still, even if the "iPhone 8" were to approach $1,500 with higher capacities, it would still be well below the levels Vertu products reached. For example, the Vertu Signature Touch started at $10,300 when it launched in 2014.
Apple did briefly dabble in high-end luxury with the launch of the first-generation Apple Watch Edition, which came in gold and started at $10,000, but went as high as $17,000. But with the second-generation Apple Watch Series 2, Apple course corrected and opted for a more affordable ceramic Apple Watch Edition, which carries a more palatable starting price of $1,249.
Given how short-lived Apple's foray into real gold lasted with the Apple Watch Edition, it's unlikely that the company is plotting a five-figure iPhone made from rare metals. Unlike Vertu, which embraced the excess in handsets, Apple instead offers its iPhone in faux gold and rose gold aluminum. Don't expect that to change to authentic gold anytime soon.
Comments
What they could have done was fix the design hard points as dictated by the case so that the screen, back cover, and internal components of future versions will fit the gold cases. Luxury watches need to be shipped to a service center for an overhaul every 3-4 (?) years to stay on tip-top shape. And it ain't a low cost service. Apple could have had a similar scheme for the gold Apple Watch and have the overhaul done by the Genius Bar. (And price it so that it only makes sense for gold watches.)
But the loss of design flexibility resulting from fixing the watch's hard points (location of buttons and crown, shape of screen and back cover, internal component dimensions, etc.) into perpetuity was just not something Apple was willing to commit to. Which in the high tech business is very understandable.
Except it ran Android.
since the second generation of case is slightly thicker, to accommodate the larger battery, Apple should have made the first generation case that size too. Then the insides could be interchangeable. I have no problem with everything else being the same, crown, buttons, etc. no one expects new models of mechanical watches to have interchangeable movements with different complications. I’ve got several well known mechanical watches, and they’re the same today as when I bought them. I don’t expect the manufacturers to replace everything other than the cases for me when they come out with a new model.
but with smart watches, if the case is an expensive material such as gold or platinum, then it’s somewhat different. I can leave my watches in the draw, which I’ve increasingly done since buying the series 2, and know that I can take them to Tourneau for cleaning and adjustment, years later, for free, since I bought them there.
but if I spent $10,000 to $17,000 for an Apple Watch, it would be different, knowing that that first gen design is missing a lot of what I would want later. It’s not just complications, but performance, which is something you don’t really worry about with an expensive mechanical design.
if Apple made it so that the screen battery and electronics could be replaced every few years for new designs, then that watch might have sold better. And it might not have sold better, but we’ll never know.
i bought the black SS model with the SS bracelet. It cost all of $1,100. That’s a lot to some people, and is absurdly cheap to others. I won’t buy a replacement for the watch this year, assuming Apple has another model, but I might next year, keeping the bracelet, and buying another black SS watch with a cheap band, and use my old bracelet. So it would just cost me another $550, and I can give the older model to my daughter, who doesn’t like watches, but who has expressed an interest. So Apple could sell these to people every few years for $269 to whatever without a problem, but not if it costs in the 6 figures.
The "worse" part wasn't that it ran an original OS it's that they didn't update the OS as a unique driving force in the market.
Apple didn't make a lot of these so I'm sure they sold 100% of them.
I'm really upset Apple stopped selling Edition Watches it pisses me off every time it's brought up. It was extra money for Apple and placed the Watch in a market only Apple can attain, No one would buy a Fitbit for 1,000+ let alone 500+. And like someone else said, some people can actually afford $15,000 Watches.
The "lack of upgrade" argument doesn't work for the wealthy either.
and to the poster who said Edition Watches became "useless". How the heck do you figure that? They're still in use and still work. Why don't you apply this logic to mechanical watches made of gold? They're still worth the same after years of only telling time. How's that for "useless".
Our goal at AI is to always present stories in a way that allows readers, both casual and devoted alike, to put the news in a proper context. This is why the story today on a new Amazon Echo mentions the Apple HomePod in the headline. Or why the latest story on "Baby Driver" audio being edited on set with Avid in macOS mentions the specific hardware (a 15-inch MacBook Pro) in the headline. Know your audience, as the saying goes.
For the purposes of this story, a premium-priced smartphone maker is exiting the business, at a time when Apple is rumored to be pushing more into premium territory. It's contextually interesting, even if the two news items are not directly related. The story itself (including the last line of the opening paragraph) makes it clear that Apple will not be selling a $10,000 iPhone.
when I bought the mechanical watches I have, I thought of the effort and skills that went into designing and making them. I thought of the amazing precision of the hands of those watchmakers. I thought of the complexity of the movements, and how incredible it was that such things could be made, and actually work so reliably. I thought of the reputations of those manufacturers, and how they invented such delicate devices to overcome the inherent obstacles to keeping time in a small mechanical device subject to the daily swings and bangs they receive. I thought of the beauty of the engraving on the usually hidden movements, or of the wonderful designs of the cases.
when I looked at the Apple Edition, I thought of almost none of that, because other than the external design, which, unlike some others, I do think is wonderful in its own way, I saw nothing to value it at such prices, considering that Apple said nothing about possible future upgrades. When, before it came out, it was thought to cost from $3,000, which I thought unrealistic, to $5,000, which I thought possible, I was going to buy the Edition. For $5,000, I was willing to take the chance, but not for 5 figures!
Also, another thing which counters the argument that Apple should have kept the AW Edition going for ten years with continual upgrades, this made no sense for a couple of reasons;
1. The AW Edition was exactly the same as regular Apple Watches except that it was gold. This made the value of the AW Edition extremely limited. It wasn't a special item except for the gold material.
2. Companies like WatchPlate can cover an Apple Watch with gold for under $500. Once gold plating Apple Watches happened, the market for the gold AW Edition was over.
This is why mechanical watches aren't really going anywhere. Quartz watches have totally outclassed them in every conceivable metric for decades. Today, people buy mechanical watches as works of art which you can wear. They are among the pinnacles of precision we as a species have attained.
I am disappointed to see that Vertu is shutting down. While I'm not a fan of the software they used (either Android or Symbian), they made some devices which appeal to that "How amazing could we make this with unrestricted budget?" part of my brain. I mean, they used synthetic sapphire bearings for the buttons! Ceramics and steel and more sapphire all over the surface. They're ridiculously impractical, but extremely interesting from an engineering perspective.