Looking to build CMF as independent brand: Nothing co-founder Evangelidis

Company is also looking to hire more employees in India, where it currently has 150-odd employees, will onboard talent based on the needs and growth of its brands, Nothing and CMF, Evangelidis said

British mobile phones and accessories maker Nothing plans to develop its sub-brand CMF as a separate, independent brand headquartered in India, Nothing co-founder and India president Akis Evangelidis said.

 

“We have recently brought in a business leader to lead the CMF expansion out of India and at the global level to gradually build our capabilities. We signed a joint venture for manufacturing with Optimus Information, where we will be investing $100 million in the next 3-5 years,” Evangelidis said.

 

Apart from being one of the largest global markets for Nothing phones, India is also a strong entry point for the brand. The company recently launched its first flagship store in Bengaluru and aims to double its retail network to 15,000 stores, he said.

 

The mobile phone market in India has also moved to become a very aspirational brand, and users are no longer satisfied with a ₹15,000 phone, Evangelidis said, adding that more people are buying into aspiration and upgrading into segments which offer phones for ₹20,000 or even ₹30,000 he said.

 

Nothing phones, which has seen growth in the last seven of the eight quarters, expects momentum to continue in 2026 despite some obvious challenges, such as the general dearth of Random Access Memory (RAM) chips in the market, he said.

 

The company is also looking to hire more employees in India, where it currently has 150-odd employees, and will onboard talent based on the needs and growth of its brands, Nothing and CMF, Evangelidis said.

 

“Our industry is a scale game, and the better that scale is, the easier it becomes. In India right now, we have nearly 2 per cent market share, so still a long way to go,” he said.