After vaguely suggesting that Nothing could someday, perhaps, launch a phone in the US whenever the time feels right, Nothing CEO Carl Pei has finally confirmed more details of the plan. Nothing is indeed launching the Nothing Phone (2) in the US later this year.
In an interview with Dr oppositePei talked more about his company’s US plans, calling the phone (2) a “premium” offering that will arrive in 2023. He reiterated the reasons for not bringing the original phone (1), reminding us again that they were too small for a company that didn’t want to spend to enter this market, that introducing earbuds helped them gauge interest, and that the US carrier system is wack. Well, he didn’t call it that, but you can tell he’d love to scream about how annoying US carriers and their certification systems are. I sure would if I were in his position.
Beyond the phone (2) being “premium”, Pei didn’t mention much else. He still feels that Nothing can offer an attractive alternative to Samsung and Apple because his company is young and mobile and can try things out, while those two old heads have to play it safe. He’s probably not wrong in that assumption, but I wonder if fancy lighting and a very-simple OS only have so much reach. There’s no need to bring anything special with a phone that doesn’t just include a decent price tag and years-old parts.
One area where I think Pei is saying all the right things is software and in-house development. He’s not shy about admitting that Nothing was so short-staffed with the phone (1) that they had to outsource a lot of software. The company has now hired enough (they jumped from 200 to 400 people in total, including 100 in mobile) that they developed Android 13 entirely in-house and will likely do the same for their next phone. These are big steps that will lead to a better overall hardware-to-software experience.
In another bit of news, Pei suggested that their first retail store in the UK is already so successful that they want to open more physical stores around the world. It seems like an odd time to expand into physical retail, but hey, give it a shot. I’m all for finding success where others have failed.
To recap, Phone (2) is coming to the US this year and will be a more premium device than Phone (1). Hoping for the best.