London-based Nothing eyes AI-powered devices market, explores expansion in India

Akis Evangelidis

London-based consumer tech startup Nothing is betting big on the AI-powered devices market, backed by its robust engineering team's capability to adapt to fast-changing market dynamics swiftly, a top company official told Moneycontrol in an interview.

"We are at a stage where we have one of the strongest teams in terms of innovation, both software and hardware, with unique talents,” Akis Evangelidis, co-founder of Nothing, told Moneycontrol.

Evangelidis said that the emergence of AI-powered gadgets like Rabbit and Humane, is transforming the tech landscape with voice command-driven user experience. "It is a fascinating space."

He also said that it is still to be seen if smartphones are the right interface for GenAI or AI technology. “No one has yet cracked the best user interface for this segment… but the current developments will democratise the technology.”

Humane is currently in talks with Indian telcos to enter the Indian market.

India, a key market

Nothing will gradually start exports of its smartphones from its Chennai factory. “For us, it's definitely an important market where we will start looking into not only for producing in India for the Indian market, but also gradually for the global market. I think that's going to be the sort of course of direction right here,” Evangelidis said.

Asked if the brand is considering setting up an R&D centre in India, Evangelidis said it is a natural step for Nothing to have more hardware and software engineers based in India. “We have been building a team there in India for a few years.”

He said that Nothing has hardware engineers working at its Chennai manufacturing facility. “We have different manufacturing processes than others built into our factory.”

The company’s R&D team is based in London, UK.

At its inception, Nothing focused on hardware and design innovation to differentiate it from rival smartphone makers. It then said that all large smartphone makers were playing it safe and not innovating, which slowed growth in the global market.

“We are now building a unique user experience on the hardware and software sides. We are offering a clean user experience, yet bringing the story of Nothing visual identity and rethinking how we interact with the smartphone,” he said.

Focus on volumes

The company is also looking to enter the volume game with its latest smartphone, Nothing Phone (2a), which will be priced under Rs 25,000 and directly compete with Chinese smartphone maker OnePlus’ Nord brand.

Nothing, which forayed into the smartphone market with Nothing 1 and Nothing 2 devices in the premium segment, is now diverting its focus to the mid-premium segment with its latest smartphone, Nothing Phone (2a), which would be priced under Rs 25,000. It could also bring offers to sweeten the offering further when it launches the product on March 5 in India.

“If you look in the non-flagship segments, the whole category is driven by either value for money or some crazy specs race that is a bit meaningless for us now. We are now entering this category by delivering the same unique experience you would find on the flagship level without their spec configuration,” he said.

Explaining the intention behind launching the latest phone in the sub-Rs 25,000 price category, the executive said, “What we saw with from Nothing Phone (2) with which we entered the flagship segment, some people don't buy at the price point rather prefer to have a product which still delivers on the core functionalities but at a lower price point.”

Evangelidis believes there is demand for Nothing products at more accessible price points. “And that's where form two comes in, and I'm quite confident it is going to start driving volumes for us,” he said, without disclosing the sales target.

Nothing is also exploring more product categories under its sub-brand CMF to expand its presence in India.

“With the Nothing brand, sticking to unique user experience, design, and software limits how many product categories we can enter. But with CMF, by just getting the basics right, you actually can stand out. And, this opens the door to multiple product categories we can enter. The opportunity is big even though people say the market (accessories) is supersaturated. There is an opportunity to make better products,” he said.

Evangelidis said that Nothing could look at local production of wearable and hearable products under its CMF brand once it reaches scale in India.