Nothing's CMF Set to Operate as an Independent Brand in India

Nothing has officially confirmed that CMF will operate as an independent subsidiary, and it plans to make India the global base for manufacturing and research. 

Nothing CEO Carl Pei confirmed in an X post that CMF as an independent company will now be India's "first truly global" tech brand. He also announced that the brand is entering a joint venture with Optiemus for manufacturing its future phones and devices. 

With this partnership, Nothing plans to invest $100M over the next three years and offer at least 1,800 job opportunities in the country. 

India will play a key role in shaping the future of the global smartphone industry. CMF has been well received by the market since we launched it two years ago. With our end-to-end capabilities, we are uniquely positioned to now build it into India’s first truly global smartphone brand. Our joint venture with Optiemus is a key milestone toward making that vision a reality.

— Nothing CEO, Carl Pei

The joint venture with Optiemus should establish India as the global production hub for all Nothing and CMF devices. This should help the brand gain a larger share of the domestic smartphone and accessories market as it reinforces its support for the "Make in India" initiative. 

We are extremely excited about this partnership with Nothing; it will allow us to further strengthen our world-class manufacturing capabilities for the products of today and tomorrow. Global brands choosing India to build is a testament to the strength of the Indian ecosystem and the vision of Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat. This partnership goes beyond high-tech manufacturing - it will empower us to create export-ready products that will be designed in India, showcasing the innovation and talent of our people to the world in the coming years.

— Optiemus Executive Chairman, Ashok Gupta

With CMF now operating independently, it remains to be seen how the brand follows up with future phones and devices. Will they follow a design language that's synonymous with Nothing? Will they still run on Nothing OS? Only time will tell, but we'll make sure to keep you updated with the latest developments.