Vertu to sell 4 golden cell phones in Japan (price: $215,000 each)

Nokia pulled out of Japan, one of the world’s biggest mobile markets, as early as November 2008. But because this country is quite wealthy, the Finnish company decided to conquer Japan with their luxury brand Vertu [JP], starting operations in September 2009. Initially the plan was to market handsets priced between $16,000 and $50,000.

But today Vertu Japan announced a “golden” handset with a price tag of 20 million yen (it’s made-in-Japan gold lacquerwork, to be more exact). That’s $215,000, with the price including free domestic calls. Buyers will be able to choose between four equally priced models: Kinko (pictured above), Kikusui, Nanten and Daigo (pictured below). The different designs stand for the different seasons of the year.

The occasion for these super-limited editions is the first anniversary of Vertu’s flagship store in Ginza, Tokyo next month. Vertu plans to sell just four of these handsets worldwide (more pictures over at Keitai Watch).

Via Keitai Watch [JP]

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