Breacking news from Nothing: CMF and Other cool products are coming to the Middle East!

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Watch our exclusive interview with Akis Evangelidis, the Co-founder of Nothing in Gitex.  Akis Evangelidis revealed to Inc Arabia Nothing next steps and the new products coming soon to the Middle East.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 Aqees, welcome back again.

00:10 Mass, thanks for having me.

00:11 Always a pleasure.

00:12 Thank you.

00:13 Is Dubai your new home?

00:16 Pretty much, pretty much.

00:17 Getting month after month, definitely

00:19 getting closer to a new home.

00:21 Awesome, awesome.

00:21 I hope you're enjoying it.

00:23 I hope you're enjoying Gitex as well.

00:24 Yeah, Mass, I will be back.

00:26 We last met when you launched the Phone 2.

00:30 Yeah.

00:31 What have you been up to since then?

00:34 It's fun.

00:34 Every time we meet, it feels like years have gone by,

00:37 but it's just a few months.

00:39 So we are keeping the pace.

00:41 So yeah, we launched Phone 2.

00:43 We've been blessed by the success of Phone 2.

00:46 I think the feedback we've been getting on product

00:48 has been outstanding.

00:50 It has really kind of helped us establish the brand's

00:54 credibility when it comes to the product experience.

00:57 Feedback has been amazing, whether it's

00:59 from media or community.

01:02 So we've been super excited.

01:03 We've been scaling as well our operations.

01:06 Now in the Middle East, we are in over 1,000 stores.

01:09 So products are becoming more and more widely available.

01:13 And we also recently launched a little brother

01:17 called CMF, a new sub-brand from nothing.

01:21 Tell us more about CMF.

01:22 I mean, I had to look it up to understand what CMF is.

01:25 So if you would--

01:26 Yeah.

01:27 So basically, CMF is a common term

01:30 used in the digital design world, where

01:33 CMF means color, material, and the finish of the product.

01:37 So for us, it's more in terms of addressing sort

01:41 of everyday tech, yet with a close eye to design,

01:46 like simpler design than what you'll

01:48 find on the sort of nothing product line,

01:51 yet quite refined.

01:53 And also, we like to think of timeless designs,

01:57 very pure, simple lines, and most importantly,

02:01 not compromise on the overall experience,

02:03 whether it's like the hardware or software

02:05 or overall kind of product experience,

02:06 really focusing on the core functionalities, do them well,

02:11 and that's it.

02:11 No smoke and mirrors on getting the basics right

02:15 and bringing great products at an affordable price point.

02:18 Yeah.

02:19 I think it goes back to the simplicity part.

02:21 Exactly.

02:21 Right?

02:22 And I think many of the gen Zs, let's put it this way,

02:27 are eager to have such products.

02:30 Do you see nothing as disrupting that part of the business

02:35 as well?

02:37 I mean, it's funny to think about disruption.

02:39 For us, when we're thinking about CMF,

02:43 looking at the category, we didn't

02:46 went into this kind of market segment

02:49 with the idea of disrupting.

02:51 And we actually weren't even sure, is it the right approach?

02:54 But actually sticking to the basics

02:58 in terms of having meaningful and truthful design,

03:02 not trying to come up with design over the top

03:06 just to look a bit more shinier and so on,

03:08 keeping things simple, clean, and really focusing

03:11 on the core things versus trying to do a bit too much

03:15 and not getting that right.

03:16 And it has been disruptive in a way

03:19 because it's been going crazy since we announced

03:21 the product is the best selling across a few of our partners,

03:26 to the point that we also had a lot of demands from partners

03:28 here in the Middle East.

03:29 Initially, we had a very focused rollout of that brand.

03:34 But we're going to be actually launching in the Middle East

03:37 as well in the coming months.

03:39 So breaking news.

03:40 We're expecting to see--

03:41 Breaking news, exclusive on Inc.

03:42 CMF is coming to Middle East within a month.

03:47 Excellent.

03:47 You heard it on Inc.

03:48 Arabia.

03:50 Is sustainability going to continue

03:52 to be a key pillar for Nothing in general?

03:56 Yeah, I mean, for us, I think the strength for Nothing

04:02 as a company is consistency.

04:04 I think this industry has been lacking of consistency.

04:07 And even if you look at the competitive landscape,

04:10 like brands have been quite opportunistic

04:12 in coming in and out and not really building long term.

04:16 So for us, when we launched Nothing,

04:19 since day one, we've committed towards this

04:21 being a key pillar of our brand and product strategy.

04:26 We all are young founders.

04:29 Actually, a few of us, since we created Nothing,

04:31 had a few babies.

04:33 So it's an important thing on the personal level,

04:36 but also a responsibility entering this market segment.

04:40 And it's something we've continuously been improving.

04:42 There is a lot more to be done.

04:44 We don't want to get into this kind of brainwashing

04:46 and trying to say that we are the best and greatest.

04:48 But there is being continuous progress.

04:51 And I think Phone2 is a representation of this,

04:56 because Phone2 is actually our first second generation

04:58 product that has a lower carbon footprint than its predecessor,

05:03 despite having a bigger screen, bigger battery, and so on.

05:06 So we're super proud that all the initiatives we're taking,

05:09 whereas it's like introducing recycled material,

05:12 using green energy, and so on, is actually driving impact

05:16 and driving results.

05:18 But there's still a lot more to be done.

05:19 It's a long journey that we really

05:22 want to keep on building.

05:23 And I believe everyone has to play a role in this.

05:26 Everyone.

05:28 But again, it's consistency.

05:29 I think a lot of people have been opportunistic about it,

05:31 seeing more as a kind of marketing thing and so on,

05:34 and not being truthful.

05:35 But at the end of the day, if you

05:36 don't have that consistency, time will tell.

05:39 You will be called out.

05:40 Exactly.

05:42 To wrap it up, 2024 plans.

05:46 I think 2024 plans is, again, going back to consistency,

05:50 keep on improving our user experience,

05:51 our software team is getting better and better after today.

05:55 The vision is super strong when it comes to the overall software.

05:58 So it's something we still remain core focus for us in 2024.

06:02 And you can definitely expect us kind

06:04 of widening a bit of our portfolio,

06:06 entering in new categories, and doing also a lot more with CMF.

06:11 It was, I guess, a soft launch of CMS

06:14 to kind of see the market appetite.

06:16 The results have been overwhelming.

06:18 There is demand for those more kind

06:19 of functional, everyday tech products.

06:22 And this opens, actually, a lot of opportunities.

06:26 I think one of my favorite CMF products, for instance,

06:28 is the gun charger.

06:29 Absolutely.

06:30 Before, I used to carry a charger for the phone,

06:32 a charger, like the Apple charger, the big brick.

06:36 Now it's just like one simple product,

06:38 but super functional, super useful, and well executed.

06:42 And there is quite a few other products

06:44 we could kind of launch, similar products.

06:47 So CMF opens a big opportunity for us.

06:50 We're going to keep on building while still kind of scaling

06:53 good nothing products and keep on refining, improving

06:56 our user experience.

06:57 Congratulations.

06:59 It's great seeing you again in Dubai.

07:01 I hope to see you very soon as well.

07:02 And congratulations on Inc as well.

07:04 Thank you.

07:05 I've been hearing that you are the best

07:06 to carry this in the region.

07:07 So yeah, all the best.

07:08 And super happy to be part of it.

07:10 It means a lot to us.

07:10 Thank you.

07:11 Thank you, Akish.

07:12 Thank you.

07:12 [MUSIC PLAYING]

07:16 (upbeat music)

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