CMF is moving out from under Nothing’s umbrella and becoming an independent smartphone company, with India set to play a central role in its next phase. The restructuring gives the affordable-device brand considerably more autonomy, although it isn’t cutting ties with Nothing entirely.
Carl Pei, founder and CEO of Nothing, announced the separation, saying the new CMF will be headquartered in India and have majority Indian ownership. Nothing will remain a significant shareholder and technology partner, with the two companies continuing to share software, technology, engineering resources and supply-chain infrastructure.
That makes this less of a clean breakup and more of an attempt to turn CMF from a sub-brand into a company capable of operating independently while retaining access to Nothing’s existing technology platform.
The bigger change is what CMF intends to build in India. Rather than relying predominantly on local assembly, the company plans to establish engineering and research capabilities covering areas including chassis development, camera systems, antennas and software optimisation.
It’s an ambitious distinction. Smartphone manufacturing has increasingly shifted towards India, with around 99% of phones sold in the country now reportedly assembled domestically. But assembly is only one part of the equation. Moving more engineering and product-development expertise into the country would give CMF greater control over how its devices are designed rather than simply where they’re put together.
India also gives CMF access to an enormous domestic smartphone market, with annual sales exceeding 150 million units, alongside an established software engineering workforce.
There are commercial motivations behind the split too. CMF was reportedly the fastest-growing smartphone sub-brand in India during 2025, giving Nothing a reason to let the brand develop a more distinct identity. Pei has also outlined a considerably bigger long-term ambition: reaching annual shipments of 100 million smartphones.
That figure would represent a huge leap in scale and shouldn’t be confused with a forecast. Reaching it would require CMF to become a substantially larger global smartphone player while competing in an exceptionally crowded budget and mid-range market.
Plenty of important details remain unanswered. CMF hasn’t revealed its complete leadership structure, a firm timetable for the restructuring or exactly when its Indian operations will become fully independent.
Still, the separation gives CMF something it never really had as Nothing’s cheaper sibling: the opportunity to establish an identity that isn’t defined primarily by its parent brand.
