Nothing's doing something wild with its budget-friendly spin-off CMF. The company just handed over majority control to Indian manufacturing giant Optiemus, which is now sitting on a 51.1 percent stake in the restructured brand. But here's the twist: Nothing's staying put as a partner and mentor, helping CMF build out its own identity as a full-fledged Indian smartphone maker.
This partnership is way bigger than it sounds. The deal transforms CMF from just an assembly operation into what the companies are calling India's first smartphone brand with genuine end-to-end R&D capabilities. We're talking industrial design, mechanical engineering, camera work, software, connectivity, and component engineering all happening right here in India. The intellectual property created? It'll be owned locally, not shipped off overseas.
Optiemus CEO Ashok Gupta made it clear that India's new 62,500 crore Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme played a huge role in making this happen. The government's push for domestic phone manufacturing created the perfect window for this kind of ambitious local play. Nothing CEO Carl Pei echoed that vision, saying they've already proven the blueprint works with Nothing globally, and now they want to replicate it for CMF as an Indian brand that can eventually compete worldwide.
The timing's interesting because CMF's already reshaping its product strategy. Earlier this year, Nothing announced it wouldn't launch a successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro in 2026 because RAM prices are climbing. But that hasn't stopped the brand from experimenting with other categories like earbuds. Now, with Optiemus backing and local ownership, CMF's got real runway to experiment and scale.
This move reflects a bigger shift in India's phone market. Wearable brands like Fireboltt and Mivi are jumping into smartphones, and now Nothing's essentially turning CMF into a genuinely Indian competitor. It's not just importing and rebranding anymore. Real design, real engineering, real ownership. That's a different game entirely, and it signals that India's serious about building phones, not just selling them.