Nokia has finally thrown in the towel after its Vertu cell phone failed to make an impact in the Japanese market. By the end of July this year they will be closing shop and heading back home. This will mean a closure of all their 4 sales stores in Japan. The Vertu is a high end luxury mobile phone that had been designed to compete directly with the iPhone manufactured by Apple in Japan.
Japanese cell phone users have long favored the iPhone and it took Nokia substantial time and money trying to change their taste. In addition, the Japanese are very loyal to their home brands made by Sharp Corporation, an electronics manufacturer.
Nokia stated that they would continue working with the Japanese craftsmen on other business projects. They however stated that they were moving out because they needed to focus in areas where they were more profitable.
This comes at a time when Nokia is facing increasing competition from all major cell phone manufacturers the world over. Its number one dominance since 1998 is being challenged by other vendors like Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android. In direct competition with these two companies, Nokia has announced plans to enter the Asian market with low-end offerings in the near future.
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