Nothing is preparing to spin off CMF as an independent, majority Indian-owned smartphone company, with Optiemus set to join its upcoming Series A funding round. The partnership will also see CMF build an end-to-end smartphone R&D operation in India.
CMF, the consumer technology brand founded by Nothing, is set for a significant restructuring that could see India become the centre of its product development and engineering operations. Nothing has announced an expanded partnership with Indian electronics manufacturer Optiemus, under which Optiemus will participate in CMF’s upcoming Series A investment round.
The move is expected to put CMF on a path towards becoming a majority Indian-owned, independent smartphone brand, with its products designed and engineered in India for global markets.
The development builds on the manufacturing joint venture between Nothing and Optiemus announced in 2025, which established India as a production hub for Nothing and CMF products. The expanded partnership will now bring manufacturing, ownership and R&D under a single Indian entity.
CMF to Build its Own R&D Capabilities
The bigger shift is that CMF plans to move beyond manufacturing and establish what the companies describe as India’s first full-stack, end-to-end smartphone R&D capability.
This will cover six key areas: industrial design, mechanical engineering, camera engineering, software engineering, connectivity engineering and component engineering.
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In practical terms, this means CMF intends to develop everything from the phone’s design, materials and thermal architecture to its cameras, image processing, software, antennas and connectivity. The company also plans to work directly with component suppliers to develop and optimise components for its devices.
The intellectual property generated through this R&D is expected to be held locally, with the company’s stated ambition being to develop smartphones in India rather than simply assemble them here.
Carl Pei Says India Needs to Move Beyond Manufacturing
In a separate statement outlining the thinking behind the move, Nothing CEO Carl Pei argued that India has already built a significant electronics manufacturing base but now needs to develop deeper engineering capabilities and globally competitive consumer technology brands.
Pei points to the evolution of China as an example, where smartphone companies pushed suppliers to develop increasingly sophisticated components and technologies. According to him, this eventually helped create an ecosystem where suppliers became engineering partners rather than simply manufacturers.
He believes India is at a similar inflexion point, with a large domestic smartphone market, a substantial engineering talent pool and an established manufacturing ecosystem.
“Manufacturing was step one,” is essentially the argument behind the move. The next stage, according to Nothing, is to build the R&D and intellectual property that sits further up the smartphone value chain.
Nothing will Remain Involved
Although CMF is being positioned as an independent company, Nothing will not be exiting the business. Nothing will remain a shareholder and partner, while CMF becomes a standalone Indian company with majority Indian ownership.
The company intends to carry over the engineering expertise, software capabilities, supplier relationships and product development experience built at Nothing into the new Indian operation.
Nothing says it has already developed in-house capabilities spanning industrial design, software and camera processing, while working directly with suppliers on displays, chipsets and camera modules. CMF will use this foundation as it expands its operations in India.
CMF was launched by Nothing in 2023 and is now sold in more than 40 countries. According to the company, CMF’s volumes in India grew 83 per cent year-on-year in 2025, making it the country’s fastest-growing smartphone brand based on Counterpoint Research’s Q4 2025 India Smartphone Shipment Tracker.
From ‘Made in India’ to ‘Engineered in India’
The partnership represents a broader shift in how CMF sees India’s role in the smartphone industry. India has become one of the world’s largest smartphone manufacturing bases, but much of the underlying product development and intellectual property has historically remained outside the country.
CMF and Optiemus now want to build a local ecosystem where engineering talent, component suppliers, product development and intellectual property develop together.
The long-term ambition is global rather than purely domestic: smartphones designed and engineered in India, manufactured at scale and sold across international markets.
For Nothing, the move also represents an attempt to replicate the engineering-led model that helped establish the company globally, but with India as the foundation for CMF’s next phase.-