奢侈手機公司Vertu被中國投資者收購

Vertu luxury smartphone maker sold to Chinese investors

英國《金融時報》 丹尼爾˙托馬斯 倫敦報道

Vertu, the UK-based maker of handcrafted luxury smartphones that feature precious metals, leather casings and sapphire screens, has been sold by Swedish private equity group EQT to Chinese investors, in the latest sign of the popularity of upmarket brands in Asia.

英國手工奢侈智能手機製造商Vertu的手機以貴金屬、皮套和藍寶石屏幕為特色。Vertu已被瑞典私人股本集團殷拓(EQT)出售給中國投資者，這是高端品牌在亞洲受歡迎的最新跡象。

Vertu said that Godin Holdings, a Hong Kong-based fund, had acquired the business alongside “international private investors”.

Vertu表示，香港基金公司Godin Holding聯合“國際私人投資者”收購了該公司。

Massimiliano Pogliani, chief executive of Vertu, has also stepped down after three years. He said it was “an appropriate time to pass on the baton of leadership to a new team”.

Vertu首席執行官馬西米利亞諾?波利亞尼(Massimiliano Pogliani)也從任職了3年的位置上退了下來。他表示，現在是“將領導接力棒傳給一個新團隊的合適時機”。

Vertu and EQT did not disclose the terms of the deal.

Vertu和殷拓沒有公開交易條款。

EQT bought Vertu from Nokia for more than €200m in 2012 when the Finnish group was struggling to revive its once dominant smartphone business. Nokia, which founded the company in 1998 as an attempt to create a niche in luxury handsets, retains a small stake in the company.

2012年，殷拓以逾2億歐元的價格從諾基亞(Nokia)手中收購了Vertu，當時諾基亞正努力重振其一度占主導地位的智能手機業務。諾基亞1998年創立了Vertu，試圖開辟一個奢侈手機的利基市場。在出售Vertu後，諾基亞仍保留了Vertu的一小部分股權。

The group shipped its first phone in 2002. By 2015, Vertu had sold about 450,000 devices worldwide, with an average selling price of about ￡5,000 last year.

Vertu在2002年推出第一款手機。到2015年，Vertu已在全球賣出45萬部手機。去年該公司手機的平均售價約為5000英鎊。

Vertu’s business will continue to operate from its headquarters and manufacturing facility in Church Crookham, Hampshire, where it employs about 450 people. The company has a further 450 based around the world.

Vertu仍將繼續從位於漢普郡(Hampshire)Church Crookham的總部和製造工廠運營業務。在那裏，Vertu雇傭了約450名員工，此外還有另外450名員工在世界各地工作。

The idea behind Vertu was to create a handset for wealthy customers willing to pay extra for premium materials, although the brand struggled with a “bling” image and criticism that its technology has been left behind by much cheaper rivals such as Apple.

Vertu的理念是為願意為高端材料額外花錢的富有顧客打造手機，不過該品牌一直在努力擺脫“珠光寶氣”的形象，以及對其手機技術落後於蘋果(Apple)等便宜得多的競爭對手的批評。

Vertu has improved its latest range of phones to match the technology available in other smartphones, while lowering prices to broaden its potential customer base.

Vertu改進了旗下最新係列的產品，以匹敵其他智能手機現有的技術，同時降價以擴大潛在客戶群。

The latest Vertu model costs almost ￡7,000 for a basic version, but rises to nearer ￡17,000 if customers want a rose gold frame or bespoke colours. The cost of its most expensive handmade phones have exceeded ￡200,000, and each comes signed by the craftsman who made the device.

最新款Vertu手機的基礎款售價近7000英鎊，但如果顧客希望配備玫瑰金外殼或者定製顏色，售價就會上升到近1.7萬英鎊。Vertu旗下最昂貴的手工手機售價超過20萬英鎊，每一部手機都會簽上製作這部手機的工匠的名字。

The market for luxury handsets has expanded in part down to the sale of higher-priced gold versions of Apple phones, while brands in the luxury market have lent their names to third-party handset makers.

奢侈手機市場已經擴大，部分是定價更高的黃金版蘋果手機上市銷售，此外奢侈品品牌也將品牌名借給第三方手機製造商。

譯者/許雯佳