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Comment by orbitingpluto | Hacker News Reader

"Premium Product?" Here you go: Vertu Signature Collection running S40??? Only €29k for the "Red Gold Ultimate Black".

http://www.vertu.com/ca/en/collections/signature/shop-collec...

I'm missing something. Almost $19000 for a phone that has less features than a $600 iPhone? I know Vertu is trying to be a luxury brand, but usually when a company sets themselves up as one, their offerings are at least as good as commodity items. (I'm using luxury cars). If I saw someone using a Vertu, I'd be more inclined to laugh at them then be jealous.

And this is why Vertu isn't doing so well. It is extremely difficult to build a good software stack compared to building a quality casing/hardware. And once you have a great software stack, it is cheap to distribute it to millions of customers, while it is difficult to scale hand-built physical production.

If you are super rich and want to show off, you are probably much better of getting a jeweller to remove your iPhones casing and replace is with diamond encrusted gold or something similar (and I believe there are companies who do this).

But then again, the best way of showing of excess richness is being wasteful (lighting cigars with 100 dollar bills, kind of stuff). So you can argue that you waste features when getting a Vertu. If that makes any sense.

Regardless, Vertu comes with a world wide concierge service, and you can probably have them do all your tweeting and googling for you, so maybe owning a Vertu is a signal that you have people to do your smart phoning.

At least it is sobering to know that even the super rich can't get a better phone than you and me. I believe there is a Warhol quote about how the best softdrink available to the president is the same coke as you and me can buy for a dollar.

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