Once again, a new competitor is coming in to take on the battle to the Apples and Samsungs in the smartphone business. While Android creator Andy Rubin may not have been successful, it is Carl Pei now, the founder of OnePlus, who is taking on the task.
He is back in the smartphone game, ready to rock the boat with his startup Nothing’s new product, the Phone (1). Nothing has bagged a $200 Mn financing for the launch of this very device, backed by Alphabet’s venture arm EQT Ventures and Apple’s Tony Fadell.
On Wednesday, Pei teased the design of the new Phone(1), along with its launch date, July 12th. The phone will be seen sporting the minimalistic yet assertive bare-back design, leaving the phone’s inside’s exposed. (It’s not like smartphones care about privacy anyway.) Pei’s intention with this new product’s aesthetics was to bring the smartphone designs outside of Apple’s influence binorder to decongest the market, which is currently saturated with the same old glass-sandwhich smartphone design.
Bold. Warm. Full of soul.
A return to instinct.
This is phone (1).
Tune in on 12 July to hear all about it: https://t.co/FEJL4Jb2Aw pic.twitter.com/5XUbvo8dwZ
— Nothing (@nothing) June 15, 2022
The Nothing Phone (1) would be the first new arrival in the smartphone market, currently cornered by Apple and Samsung. On the contrary, it’s not Pei’s first rodeo. Pei was responsible for building the fan favourite OnePlus, a subsidiary of Chinese enterprise BBK Electronics from the ground up, before departing the company to pursue his goals with Nothing.
Nothing came onto the scene with their true wireless earbuds, called the Nothing Ear (1), which showcased similar, stripped to bones transparent design theme. The product was an instant hit, selling out on the day of launch and recieving appreciative reviews all over the tech circle. Ear (1) has sold over 530,000 units since it’s launch in August last year.
The smartphone market is poised in a way that ground breaking innovation is met by strong resistance. Failure of earlier startups, like Andy Rubin’s Essential Phone, which focused on creating purely minimalist smartphones optimised for utility, has created an aversion within part manufacturers to work with new players. Nothing’s successful launch and continued logistical excellence with the Ear(1) has helped the company gain the manufacturer’s trust. “A lot of Android manufacturers are just taking market share from each other and not doing anything very different to be able to even attempt to take share from Apple. I think the result of this product is that we will be converting more iPhone users than other Android phones,” Pei said, addressing his company’s priority of innovation.
The Nothing Phone (1) is all set to launch globally on July 12th as a Flipkart exclusive release. The company has set up the manufacturing process for the product in Tamil Nadu, enabling them to offer aggressive pricing in the Indian Market by circumventing import duties. While the design has been revealed, no official word about other specifications has been made public yet.
