Nokia's Vertu phones, which cost up to $10,000, are handcrafted and feature precious metals, the financial magazine reported.

"There is definitely a market in Japan for Vertu," analyst Carolina Milanesi at Gartner Research was quoted as saying. She also approved of Nokia's decision, given the weak market share for its other phones.

The Forbes report said Nokia has only about 1 percent in Japan's mature market, which is dominated by local makers and network operators. Compounding Nokia's problems is that Japan is now in a recession.