Not to be outdone by the likes of Prada or Dolce & Gabbana with their little $600 phones, Dior has entered the phone marketat a $5,000 price point...
Betting on the brand hungry rising elite of Russia and China Dior wants to capitalize on the demand for luxury names. What really convinced us was seeing the attention people in emerging markets pay to buying a phone, by selecting the color and design, said Dior Chief Executive Sidney Toledano to the Wall Street Journal.
The French luxury-goods company is unveiling a line of mobile phones to be manufactured by Modelabs and the Dior company is optimistic of selling at least 10,000 a year.
Instead of going after a wider market, Dior is aiming for a ultra high-end customer and is looking to compete with Nokias Vertu luxury line of mobile phones which also start at $5,000.
Dior is being careful to keep the phone exclusive and representative of the brand name. According to the Journal, Diors move comes as high-end fashion houses are crossing the boundaries of traditional fashion items to boost sales. After the licensing heyday of the 1980s, which cheapened the names of many fashion houses by putting them on items ranging from lighters to toilet-seat covers, labels reeled in their branding efforts during the 1990s.
Not too many specs are available right now, but the Dior phone will include all the features of a regular cellphone such as a touchscreen, camera and ringtones. The Dior phone will also have a mini phone the size of a USB key. This mini phone, dubbed My Dior clips to the outside of a bag for easy access and allows the user to answer or make calls while the main phone is hidden away.