Nothing is turning its CMF sub-brand into an independent company with majority Indian ownership. The new company will be headquartered in India and will also have its own R&D operations in the country. Nothing will remain involved as a minority shareholder and strategic partner. Indian electronics company Optiemus Infracom will hold a controlling 51.1% stake in the new CMF business.
The move marks a major change for CMF, which was launched by Nothing as a more affordable brand in 2023. Instead of remaining a sub-brand, CMF will now operate as a separate Indian company while continuing to target global markets.
Nothing CEO Carl Pei believes India is entering the next stage of its technology industry. India has already become a major manufacturing base for smartphones. Pei says around 99% of smartphones sold in India are now made in the country. However, he believes manufacturing is only the first step.
The next step is building products and technology in India.
This appears to be the main reason behind the new CMF structure. The company wants its Indian operation to handle more than manufacturing. It plans to build engineering and R&D capabilities that can be used to develop products from the ground up.
Pei has pointed to Japan, South Korea and China as examples of countries that eventually produced global technology companies after building strong manufacturing and engineering industries.
CMF is now being positioned as part of that transition in India.
Optiemus Infracom will hold 51.1% of the new CMF company, making it the majority owner. Nothing will retain a minority stake. The two companies already have a manufacturing relationship. They announced a joint venture in India last year with plans to invest more than $100 million and create more than 1,800 jobs over three years.
The new structure takes that relationship beyond manufacturing. Optiemus will now have direct ownership in the brand and its future operations.
For Nothing, keeping a minority stake allows it to remain connected to CMF while the Indian company takes control of the business.
The biggest potential change is the addition of product development and engineering work alongside manufacturing. CMF plans to build R&D capabilities in India covering areas such as product design and engineering. This could create more demand for engineers, suppliers and other technology companies in the local ecosystem. It could also mean that more of the intellectual property behind CMF products is developed in India.
This is different from simply assembling a phone locally. A manufacturing facility can produce a product designed elsewhere. An R&D operation can help design and improve the product itself.
The immediate impact may not be very noticeable. CMF phones will continue to be sold under the same brand, and Nothing will remain involved in the company. The bigger changes could appear in future products.
With more engineering based in India, CMF could have greater control over product development and costs. It could also develop products specifically for the Indian market and later take them to other countries.
This could eventually affect areas such as hardware design, cameras, software and other components.
However, building a serious R&D operation will take time. Consumers should not expect a major change in CMF products immediately.
CMF’s ambitions go well beyond India. The company wants to use India as its base for developing products that can be sold globally. Pei has said the long-term target is to sell 100 million smartphones a year.
That is a much bigger ambition than simply creating an affordable smartphone brand for the Indian market.
The CMF spin-off will now test whether an India-based, Indian-controlled technology company can build products at global scale while also developing its own engineering capabilities.
