Just in time for the recession. Nokia's hyper luxury brand Vertu?is launching an MVNO in Japan, aimed at "discerning subscribers," marking the global handset maker's first foray into carrier services. The service, which Vertu's web site says is called Vertu Club, is launching in Q2 and will piggyback on NTT DoCoMo's network. In echoes of the failed American luxury MVNO Voce, Vertu plans to offer among other services a members-only concierge. Vertu is also opening up its first store in Japan, a flagship branch in Tokyo's Ginza shopping area in mid February. Some of the vertu phones that will run on the new MVNO include the Ascent Ti, the Ascent Ti Ferrari and its Signature models (pictured right). Nokia (NYSE: NOK) Siemens Networks will host the operator service.
The news comes just two months after Nokia said it would stop making handsets for the Japanese market?aside from its Vertu brand?after it concluded that the business was unsustainable. Foreign handset makers, including Samsung, LG (SEO: 066570) and Motorola (NYSE: MOT), have all struggled to crack the Japanese market, which is dominated by domestic makers creating phones with very sophisticated but very localized features. Still, Nokia seems convinced that its hand-made, bejewled phones that are priced as high as 100,000 euros ($132,067) have a place in the world's fourth largest market.
