“We are a founder-led company. We make product decisions thinking of us as users and as shallow or obvious as it may sound, big brands don’t have the ability to do this, or they don’t care enough to do it,” Akis Evangelidis says. “Given that we’re an independent brand where we build everything from scratch, these products are our babies. We think about them in an extremely careful way and every decision is met with a clear intent.”
Akis is the co-founder and head of marketing of Nothing. Launched in 2021, this London-based consumer technology company wants to end the sea of sameness in products and make tech fun again. It’s still early days but Nothing already has a bunch of “originals” to its name from smartphones to smart wearables, you name it. Last year, it spun-off a subrand called CMF by Nothing with the same goal and vision but focus on catering to the mass market. Even CMF has built up an extensive portfolio of products in a short time. A CMF-branded smartphone was inevitable.
Road to CMF Phone 1
The last four years have been quite strategic for Nothing. The journey began with the Ear 1 earphones, aimed at providing a breakthrough in design innovation. According to Akis, the Ear 1 was a proof of concept. “If it didn’t work, we wouldn’t be sitting here talking to each other. So thankfully it was a success,” Akis quips.
Following this, Nothing ventured into the smartphone market with Phone 1. Entering this sector was incredibly challenging due to the high entry barrier and the complex value chain. Many new companies over the past decade have failed because of these difficulties. From finances to supply chain, product development, sales, logistics, marketing, and consumer service, everything needed to be perfect. Competing against the world’s biggest brands with significantly more resources was a daunting task. Phone 1 focused on mastering these areas.
Despite the challenges, Nothing managed to succeed, bringing design innovation to the smartphone segment, which included overcoming R&D challenges, securing the supply chain, and developing unique features like the glyph interface.
Launching a first smartphone involves many moving parts and steep learning curves, which influenced the initial pricing strategy. “Very quickly, we understood that we couldn’t build the team and develop the software, so we had to externalise the software. This is why, while you have this kind of kick-ass design, the software experience was very stock,” Akis explains. By the end of 2022, Nothing had rebuilt its operating system, Nothing OS, and expanded its team to over 100 people.
Phone 2 represented Nothing’s first opportunity to create the best smartphone it could make with a fully established team and the learnings from Phone 1. Despite appearing visually similar, Phone 2 included significant refinements based on past experiences. It featured a coherent Nothing experience in both hardware and software, building credibility and solidifying the company’s foundations. The leap in quality and features necessitated a higher price point, reflecting the costs of building robust teams and advanced products.
“This year was all about capitalising on those solid foundations. We proved to the world that we could bring a user experience that is true to Nothing,” he says. Instead of chasing new trends like foldables, the focus was on leveraging these foundations to expand into the mid-range and entry segments, providing a unique Nothing experience across various price brackets. The success of Phone 2a, which sold 100,000 units within 24 hours of release, demonstrated the effectiveness of this strategy.
Entering the entry segment presented additional challenges, particularly in balancing the bill of materials (BOM) costs. “When you go into the entry segment, you need to be very careful. It’s about making the right trade-offs. If you go crazy on the camera, you might need to downgrade the processor,” Akis says. The goal was to find the right balance while staying true to the Nothing DNA and user experience, exemplified by CMF Phone 1.
Nothing’s approach to product development is fundamentally different, focusing on bringing fresh and unique user experiences to the market. The company prides itself on creating products that reflect its unique vision and design ethos, something that sets it apart from competitors and is difficult for others to replicate. This philosophy has been the cornerstone of Nothing’s success and continues to guide its expansion and product offerings.
Rather than engaging in a race to release numerous products, Nothing’s strategy involves a meticulous focus on a few products, ensuring each one is crafted to perfection. This approach allows the company to widen its product portfolio while maintaining its unique “Nothing recipe,” which is cantered on delivering an exceptional user experience through distinctive hardware design and highly refined software, especially with Nothing OS. The result is a level of product smoothness and functionality at a price range that is often unexpected.
Scaling effectively requires a balance between focus and diversification. Nothing has optimised its product delivery by maintaining core quality testing protocols and software under the same roof while delegating specific product development tasks to dedicated teams. This ensures that each product, whether under the Nothing brand or the CMF line, meets high standards without compromising on quality.
Journey through India
India has played a pivotal role in Nothing’s growth. With its young and tech-savvy demographic, India provides an ideal market for new consumer tech brands. Indian consumers are early adopters with a deep understanding of technology, making them receptive to innovative products. This enthusiasm and curiosity have enabled Nothing to gain significant organic traction even before product launches, allowing the company to stand out in a competitive market. The rapid pace of the Indian market aligns well with Nothing’s own dynamic approach, making it a crucial area for the brand’s expansion efforts.
“India has a young demographic which is super switched on. When I say switched on, it means they really understand tech. There is a level of enthusiasm and curiosity which is really second to none and that makes it easy for a new consumer tech brand to break through. People really know their stuff. They know when we talk about software, when we talk about not having bloatware, and they appreciate those experiences. In other markets, it’s a bit less the case. The tech savvy market segment there is maybe 3 to 4 percent and people rather go with the safe option. India has been an important market since day one.”
When designing products, Nothing starts with the engineering phase, exploring what elements can be surfaced and showcased. For instance, in Phone 1, the company highlighted the wireless coil, and in Phone 2, it showcased the NFC coil. These design choices not only serve an aesthetic purpose but also indicate the technology’s functionality. This engineering-first approach ensures that form follows function, a principle that Nothing adheres to strictly.
The CMF Phone 1 reflects this philosophy, incorporating visible screws inspired by luxury watches to give the product an industrial feel. This design choice was not merely aesthetic but also functional, allowing for an interchangeable back and the potential for further customisation with additional accessories. Nothing has launched CMF Phone 1 with three accessories and four covers, taking a step-by-step approach to gauge market reception and adoption. The company closely monitors user engagement and feedback, considering community-driven concepts for potential mass production and collaboration with third-party accessory makers.
“It’s great that we’re seeing our community engage in terms of coming up with concepts. We could easily take one of those and put into mass production if we see that there is a lot of appeal. We are also discussing with third parties already to work on a few accessories for our CMF Phone 1. So definitely more should be coming,” Akis says on the prospects of follow-up covers and accessories.
Nothing is cautious about committing to rigid product launch cycles. The company prefers to release products when they are fully ready and can offer something genuinely valuable to users. This approach has proven successful, as indicated by the tremendous reception of their recent launches. The company’s focus remains on building upon its winning formula and ensuring each new product meets high standards of innovation and quality. “When we start launching numbers, there is a natural sequence to it. This will probably be our best-selling phone to date,” he says confirming a CMF Phone 2 is coming without sharing any timelines. It’s too early for that anyway.
The company has also prioritised security, scaling its dedicated security team and taking significant steps to ensure product integrity. Past issues, such as those with the CMF watch, have led to a more thorough vetting of partners and an expanded internal team, particularly as the company transitions to incorporating AI into its products.
“What happened with the student referral program, this is not something on our product and it’s a third party and within a specific context. But when it comes to product, we take this extremely seriously. What happened with the CMF Watch, we reverted that back and ever since our iMessage thing, we’re extremely cautious on the product level in terms of partners, doing all the due diligence in a super thorough way.”
Looking ahead, Nothing aims to continue its methodical approach to product development. With the anticipated launch of Phone 3 next year, the company plans to introduce real innovation without rushing the process.
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