TL;DR
- London-based Nothing is allegedly exiting 12 markets (including Japan, the Middle East, and parts of Europe), slashing global headcount by 40%, and laying off 30–50% of R&D staff following sharp drops in global shipments.
- Recent launches show weak momentum with Phone 4b shipping ~20,000 units and Phone 4a/4a Pro totaling 150,000 units, compared to 2 million global units sold in 2025.
- Skyrocketing RAM and storage costs forced Nothing to cancel the sub-$250 CMF Phone 2 Pro successor, leaving the CMF lineup without a hero product.
All is not well with the smartphone world. Rising component prices have wreaked havoc — not only are we seeing higher phone prices across the board, but the resultant economic headwinds are also directly affecting how well companies can survive in the market. The situation is bad enough that OnePlus had to exit the North American and European markets, and it seems even Nothing could exit some European markets.
According to a report by Digit, London-based Nothing is allegedly scaling down its global footprint by exiting 12 markets over the next few weeks. This follows a sharp drop in global device shipments, even though the company continued to grow in key regions like India.
The exits allegedly include the Middle East, Japan, and parts of Europe. Global headcount is also said to be reduced by 40%, and the company’s R&D unit, split 70:30 between China and London, is facing layoffs of around 50% and 30-40%, respectively.
The report notes that the most recent Nothing Phone 4b has allegedly shipped approximately 20,000 units globally since its launch earlier this month. The Phone 4a and Phone 4a Pro have allegedly shipped a total of 150,000 units. In comparison, the company is said to have sold 2 million units globally in 2025. These figures show that Nothing is not immune to the pressures of a weak global smartphone market.
Before the Phone 4b’s launch, Nothing confirmed that skyrocketing RAM and storage costs had forced the company to cancel the successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro. To launch the device under the CMF banner with its intended specs, the price would have ballooned from its usual sub-$250 sweet spot to roughly Rs 30,000-35,000 (~$317-$370), a price tag that didn’t fit the CMF identity. Leaks suggested that instead of scrapping the hardware altogether, Nothing pivoted and rebadged the phone into what eventually launched as the Nothing Phone 4b. However, this leaves the CMF brand without a hero product for the foreseeable future, according to the Digit report.
We’ve reached out to Nothing for comments on this report. We’ll update this article when we hear back from the company.
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