奢侈手机公司Vertu被中国投资者收购

 　　Vertu, the UK-based maker¹ of handcrafted luxury smartphones that feature precious metals, leather casings and sapphire² screens, has been sold by Swedish private equity³ group EQT to Chinese investors⁴, in the latest sign of the popularity of upmarket brands in Asia.

　　英国手工奢侈智能手机制造商Vertu的手机以贵金属、皮套和蓝宝石屏幕为特色。Vertu已被瑞典私人股本集团殷拓(EQT)出售给中国投资者，这是高端品牌在亚洲受欢迎的最新迹象。

　　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联合“国际私人投资者”收购了该公司。

　　Massimiliano Pogliani, chief executive of Vertu, has also stepped down after three years. He said it was “an appropriate time to pass on the baton⁵ of leadership to a new team”.

　　Vertu首席执行官马西米利亚诺波利亚尼(Massimiliano Pogliani)也从任职了3年的位置上退了下来。他表示，现在是“将领导接力棒传给一个新团队的合适时机”。

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

　　Vertu和殷拓没有公开交易条款。

　　EQT bought Vertu from Nokia for more than ㈠　　洀 in 2012 when the Finnish group was struggling to revive its once dominant⁶ smartphone business. Nokia, which founded the company in 1998 as an attempt to create a niche⁷ in luxury handsets, retains a small stake in the company.

　　2012年，殷拓以逾2亿欧元的价格从诺基亚(Nokia)手中收购了Vertu，当时诺基亚正努力重振其一度占主导地位的智能手机业务。诺基亚1998年创立了Vertu，试图开辟一个奢侈手机的利基市场。在出售Vertu后，诺基亚仍保留了Vertu的一小部分股权。

　　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年推出第一款手机。到2015年，Vertu已在全球卖出45万部手机。去年该公司手机的平均售价约为5000英镑。

　　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仍将继续从位于汉普郡(Hampshire)Church Crookham的总部和制造工厂运营业务。在那里，Vertu雇佣了约450名员工，此外还有另外450名员工在世界各地工作。

　　The idea behind Vertu was to create a handset for wealthy customers willing to pay extra for premium⁸ 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的理念是为愿意为高端材料额外花钱的富有顾客打造手机，不过该品牌一直在努力摆脱“珠光宝气”的形象，以及对其手机技术落后于苹果(Apple)等便宜得多的竞争对手的批评。

　　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改进了旗下最新系列的产品，以匹敌其他智能手机现有的技术，同时降价以扩大潜在客户群。

　　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 bespoke⁹ colours. The cost of its most expensive handmade phones have exceeded 200,000, and each comes signed by the craftsman¹⁰ who made the device.

　　最新款Vertu手机的基础款售价近7000英镑，但如果顾客希望配备玫瑰金外壳或者定制颜色，售价就会上升到近1.7万英镑。Vertu旗下最昂贵的手工手机售价超过20万英镑，每一部手机都会签上制作这部手机的工匠的名字。

　　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 makers¹¹.

　　奢侈手机市场已经扩大，部分是定价更高的黄金版苹果手机上市销售，此外奢侈品品牌也将品牌名借给第三方手机制造商。

1 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

2 sapphire   

n.青玉，蓝宝石；adj.天蓝色的

参考例句：

• Now let us consider crystals such as diamond or sapphire.现在让我们考虑象钻石和蓝宝石这样的晶体。
• He left a sapphire ring to her.他留给她一枚蓝宝石戒指。

3 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 baton   

n.乐队用指挥杖

参考例句：

• With the baton the conductor was beating time.乐队指挥用指挥棒打拍子。
• The conductor waved his baton,and the band started up.指挥挥动指挥棒，乐队开始演奏起来。

6 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

7 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

8 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

9 bespoke   

adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求

参考例句：

• His style of dressing bespoke great self-confidence. 他的衣着风格显得十分自信。
• The haberdasher presented a cap, saying,"Here is the cap your worship bespoke." 帽匠拿出一顶帽子来说：“这就是老爷您定做的那顶。” 来自辞典例句

10 craftsman   

n.技工，精于一门工艺的匠人

参考例句：

• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。
• The craftsman is working up the mass of clay into a toy figure.艺人把一团泥捏成玩具形状。

11 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》