Nokia has finished handing over control of luxury handset brand Vertu to a private equity firm – though it does retain a 10% stake and can move 1,000 employees across to the newly independent company.
Those details emerged all of four months ago when the deal with EQT VI was agreed, but what is new is the rumour that Vertu may be about to drop its Symbian underpinnings in favour of Android.
That's what TechCrunch is reporting, anyway. The story goes that one-time Nokia vice-president Anssi Vanjoki will be brought in to take the reins as CEO at Vertu, and will jump platforms not to Windows Phone like Nokia, but to Android instead.
The rumour is completely unconfirmed, but if it does prove to be true we'll be interested to see if Vertu can make a success of it. As a luxury brand, Vertu has traditionally specialised in handsets that are high on form (and price), but low on function. If the switch to Android can help bring Vertu into the 21st century, we're all for it.
What we're unlikely to see is any kind of “told you so” moment providing definitive proof that Nokia was wrong to embrace Windows Phone and should have gone with Android itself in the first place. The two companies are too far apart in the mobile pecking order for any kind of comparison to mean anything.
Then again, if Vertu came downmarket and unleashed a Lumia-bothering Android device or two at a reasonable price, things could get very interesting.
