Hardware startup Nothing just pulled off a major corporate restructuring, spinning off its affordable CMF device brand into an independent subsidiary headquartered in India. The move comes with a hefty $100 million investment commitment over three years and plans to create over 1,800 jobs, positioning CMF to become what CEO Carl Pei calls "India's first truly global smartphone brand."
Nothing just made its boldest bet yet on the global smartphone market. The London-based startup announced Thursday it's spinning off CMF, its affordable device brand, into a completely independent subsidiary with India as its operational headquarters.
The timing isn't coincidental. India has become Nothing's strongest market, where the company commands over 2% smartphone market share and posted an impressive 85% year-over-year growth in Q2 2025 shipments, according to IDC data shared with TechCrunch. That makes Nothing the fastest-growing brand in the country during that period.
The restructuring involves a manufacturing partnership with Indian ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) Optiemus to create a joint venture. While Nothing hasn't revealed the ownership split, the company's committing serious money - over $100 million across the next three years while creating more than 1,800 jobs.
"India will play a key role in shaping the future of the global smartphone industry," Nothing CEO Carl Pei said in a statement. "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."
The strategic logic is crystal clear when you look at the numbers. CMF smartphones are priced under $200, hitting the sweet spot in India where over 42% of phones shipped in Q2 2025 fell into the $100-$200 price range, according to IDC research. That's the battleground where brands like Xiaomi, Realme, and Samsung's budget lines duke it out for market dominance.
Nothing launched CMF back in 2023, starting with earbuds and a smartwatch before expanding into smartphones. The brand has carved out its own identity separate from Nothing's premium transparent-design aesthetic, focusing purely on value and functionality.
The spin-off comes just weeks after Nothing closed a massive $200 million Series C funding round led by Tiger Global, though the company hasn't disclosed how much of that cash will flow into the CMF venture. The funding round valued the company significantly higher and was meant to fuel Nothing's push into AI-powered devices.
To execute this India strategy, Nothing has been building out its local team. Last month, the company poached Himanshu Tandon from Xiaomi's POCO brand to serve as VP of Business for CMF. That's a telling hire - POCO built its reputation as Xiaomi's performance-focused sub-brand targeting exactly the market CMF now wants to own.
The move represents a broader trend of smartphone companies establishing deeper roots in India, not just as a market but as a manufacturing and R&D hub. Apple, Samsung, and Chinese brands like Oppo and Vivo have all made similar investments, recognizing India's dual role as both a massive consumer market and a cost-effective production base.
For Nothing, the spin-off allows CMF to operate with the agility and focus needed to compete in India's cutthroat budget smartphone segment, while Nothing itself can concentrate on its premium, design-forward devices in markets like Europe and North America. It's a classic brand architecture play - think how Alphabet structures Google's various ventures, or how Volkswagen Group manages everything from Audi to Skoda.
Nothing's CMF spin-off signals a mature recognition that winning in global smartphones requires local focus and operational independence. By giving CMF its own runway in India with serious investment backing, Nothing is betting that a truly localized approach can crack the code in the world's second-largest smartphone market. If successful, this model could become the template for how emerging hardware brands scale globally while staying competitive locally.
