There are many phones available that carry the brands of well-known companies. Look at the latest Porsche inspired BlackBerry phone and the selection of phones with Ferrari and other prestige car maker branding. They are often horrific to look at, incredibly expensive and have the same internals or worse that their standard counterparts.
The Vertu brand is the most well-known and somehow the company (Nokia I believe) can sell £50 phones for £1,000’s just because. Just because they have diamonds and other stuff stuck on the front and because owners want people to know they can afford a Vertu.
If you need to dress up your phone in another brand, you have failed. Look at the iPhone, the Galaxy S II and the Lumia 800. They don’t need branding from another company because people already recognise how good they are.
About Shaun McGill
Sorry, how the hell have they failed?
Making money is what companies do. Achieving a large mark-up on a phone is a win.
Besides, these phones are not for consumers, they are for the elite rich. Comparing them to consumer phones is comparing apples with duck billed platypuses.