Luxury phone-maker Vertu is shutting up shop

London, July 15 (IANS) Britain-based luxury phone-maker Vertu, which rolled out smartphones carrying hefty price tags, is closing down, the media reported.

The company recently faced financial difficulties and will be liquidated after a plan to save it failed, BBC reported.

Nearly 200 jobs will be lost as a result of the company's liquidation.

"Well it's gone into liquidation and I'm not being paid by them any more," a spokesman for the firm was quoted as saying.

The company apparently struggled to find a customer base for its $46,600 polished 18-carat red gold phones, Mashable.com reported on Friday.

The past few years for the makers of the jewel-encrusted cellphones have been tumultuous, and all the $1,200 Vertu Grape Lizard Slip Cases in the world were not enough to save the company from its financial troubles, the report said.

Vertu was founded by Nokia in 1998, but it was sold in 2012. The following year, Vertu switched from using Nokia's Symbian operating system to Google's Android.

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