The great recession has claimed many victims, and among them is all things luxury. That is how things appear on the surface. However, dig a little deeper, and a different story emerges: luxury items that are truly exceptional continue to sell well, and that is true of luxury mobile phones too. But this is the one bright spot in an otherwise gloomy picture. The luxury market has changed, perhaps forever.

High Net Worth Individuals (HNWIs) have found a new sense of frugality that could be here to stay. Even those who still have the cash are giving up ostentatious lifestyles, opting instead for understated indulgence, except, of course, in the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) countries. Luxury is being redefined. In a world recovering from doom and gloom, financial indulgence and personal pampering feel more like a crime than an aspiration. This leaves the world’s luxury brands in a precarious position.

As Milton Pedraza, the CEO of Luxury Institute, said: “It is a somber environment out there in terms of luxury because of the lack of money and the failure of the luxury industry to deliver on what consumers see as the fundamentals.”

However, not all luxury brands are created equal: some are more equal than others. They are those that have always delivered on “the fundamentals”, or have adjusted to the new economic reality and embraced them. What are those fundamentals and what do they mean for luxury mobile phones?