Nothing’s CMF to Become an Indian Owned Company

Nothing CEO Carl Pei has confirmed that Indian-owned CMF will become an independent company, following plans first announced in September 2025. CMF will remain a shareholder and partner to Nothing, but will operate with its own team and research and development facilities in India. The announcement builds upon plans to invest over $100 million in a joint venture with Optiemus for local manufacturing, which is expected to generate around 1,800 jobs over three years.

CMF was officially registered as CMF India Private Limited in December 2025, though the identities of the majority Indian shareholders remain undisclosed. Pei has stated that CMF will take responsibility for Nothing OS, engineering resources, supplier relationships, and brand operations. This includes designing phone structures, selecting materials, managing heat and durability, choosing camera sensors, developing camera software, writing the operating system, and managing software updates, antenna tuning, and working directly with suppliers on displays, chipsets, and camera modules.

Pei argues that companies relying on manufacturing partners are competing mainly on price. India is already CMF's largest market, where CMF smartphones sell for under $200. In 2025, phones priced between $100 and $200 accounted for more than 42% of smartphone shipments in India. Pei noted that Indian brands held nearly half of smartphone sales in 2015, but now hold less than 1%.

CMF aims to sell 100 million smartphones annually, which Pei believes would give the company enough influence for suppliers to develop components specifically for CMF. However, details regarding the Indian shareholders, ownership division, and transition date are yet to be disclosed. Additionally, Pei has not clarified who will handle Nothing OS updates and customer support for existing CMF devices post-separation.

The CMF Phone 2 Pro remains the brand's newest smartphone, and no new phone is planned for 2026 due to rising memory prices.