CMF is entering a new phase.
What started in 2023 as Nothing’s affordable consumer technology sub-brand is now being spun out into a standalone company headquartered in India and majority owned by Indian shareholders. Nothing will remain involved as a shareholder and strategic partner, but CMF will have its own identity, leadership structure and research and development operations in India.
The move is bigger than a corporate restructuring. Carl Pei’s vision is to use CMF as a vehicle for building a global consumer technology company from India, with the country contributing not just manufacturing capacity but also product engineering, software, design and intellectual property.
What exactly is changing with CMF?
Previously, CMF operated as a product line under Nothing. That relationship is now being changed.
Carl Pei said CMF will become a company of its own, incorporated and controlled in India, with Indian shareholders holding the majority stake. Nothing will continue as a shareholder and partner rather than controlling the company directly.
The ownership structure is becoming clearer through Nothing’s expanded partnership with Optiemus. The Indian electronics company plans to acquire an initial 51.1% stake in the proposed joint venture that will commercialise and sell CMF products, subject to required approvals and definitive agreements. Optiemus is also expected to participate in CMF’s upcoming Series A funding round.
That means CMF’s future is closely tied to India, both financially and operationally.
CMF is moving beyond “Made in India”
The most interesting part of the announcement is not ownership. It is engineering.
India has become a major smartphone manufacturing hub, and a large majority of smartphones sold in the country are now manufactured domestically. But Pei argues that manufacturing is only the first stage. The next step is developing the technology and intellectual property behind those products in India.
CMF plans to build research and development capabilities covering areas such as industrial design, mechanical engineering, camera engineering, software, connectivity and component engineering.
That distinction matters.
A phone assembled in India is not necessarily an Indian-designed phone. CMF’s new structure is intended to move more of the product development process into the country.
Nothing will contribute existing engineering capabilities, its operating system expertise, supplier relationships and experience in building a global consumer technology brand. India, meanwhile, provides manufacturing infrastructure, engineering talent and a large domestic market.
Why is Nothing doing this with CMF?
CMF gives Nothing a way to pursue a different segment of the technology market while maintaining a connection to its existing ecosystem.
Nothing launched CMF as a more affordable brand in 2023. The strategy allowed CMF to compete in price-sensitive categories without simply duplicating Nothing’s premium positioning.
The brand has since expanded beyond smartphones into audio and other consumer technology products. In 2026, CMF also decided not to launch a new smartphone because rising memory costs made it difficult to deliver a meaningful upgrade at its intended price point. The company said it would instead focus on other product categories and reassess its smartphone plans as market conditions change.
Becoming independent could give CMF more flexibility to develop products specifically for its target customers while retaining access to technology and expertise from Nothing.
The Optiemus connection is important
The CMF spin-off builds on an existing relationship between Nothing and Optiemus.
The companies announced a manufacturing joint venture in 2025 to expand production of Nothing and CMF products in India. The new arrangement goes considerably further by combining manufacturing, ownership and research and development within an India-based structure.
Optiemus’ planned 51.1% stake gives the Indian partner majority ownership of the proposed CMF joint venture.
The companies have also discussed investing more than $100 million over three years and creating more than 1,800 jobs in India as part of the broader localisation effort.
CMF has an ambitious target
Pei has set an enormous long-term ambition for CMF: 100 million smartphones shipped annually.
That figure is not a current sales number. It is a stated future ambition designed around scale.
Pei’s argument is that very high volumes could give CMF greater influence over its suppliers. Instead of simply purchasing components already available in supplier catalogues, a sufficiently large technology company can potentially ask suppliers to develop components to its specifications.
For CMF, reaching that scale would therefore be about more than selling phones. It would mean having enough purchasing power to influence the technology supply chain itself.
What does this mean for Nothing?
Nothing is not walking away from CMF.
The parent company will remain a shareholder and strategic partner. CMF is also expected to retain access to Nothing’s software and engineering capabilities, while the two companies continue to work together through their technology and supply-chain relationships.
For Nothing, this could allow the two brands to develop along different paths.
Nothing can continue building its identity around its broader consumer technology portfolio, while CMF can focus more aggressively on affordable products and India-led growth.
The relationship will therefore be less like a traditional parent-and-sub-brand structure and more like two connected businesses with shared technology and strategic interests.
What should consumers expect?
For existing CMF users, the immediate impact may be limited.
The transition is primarily corporate and operational. CMF products will not automatically become radically different simply because the ownership structure changes.
The bigger changes should appear over time as CMF builds its own engineering organisation in India.
That could eventually affect product design, component selection, software development, camera systems, connectivity and the way CMF works with suppliers. However, the company has not yet provided a complete roadmap explaining exactly how product development and software support will be divided between CMF and Nothing.
That is one area worth watching as the transition progresses.
The bigger picture for India’s tech industry
CMF’s transformation reflects a broader shift in India’s electronics ambitions.
For years, the emphasis was on bringing manufacturing into the country. That goal has produced a substantial smartphone production ecosystem.
The next challenge is harder: creating companies that develop their own products, engineering expertise and intellectual property in India and then export those products globally.
CMF is positioning itself around exactly that idea.
Whether it ultimately reaches the scale Pei has described will depend on factors including product execution, pricing, supply-chain development, software capabilities and competition. But the structure announced in September 2026 makes one thing clear: CMF is no longer being positioned simply as Nothing’s affordable phone brand.
It is being built as an India-based consumer technology company with global ambitions.
For the Indian technology ecosystem, that distinction could be more significant than the CMF name on the next smartphone.
