London-based smartphone start-up, Nothing, is entering the UAE and Gulf marketplace with its new model, the Nothing Phone (1). The co-founder and CEO of the brand, Carl Pei, believes that his brand, priced at around Dh1,500, stands a good chance of succeeding. Despite the many failures of new smartphone brands in the last decade, Pei believes that being a smaller brand gives them the freedom to do something different.
However, the market is daunting, as chip supplies that power the devices are yet to return to full pre-Covid production runs and supply levels. Pei claims that the brand’s pricing strategy is not impacted by factors such as reduced consumer spending power or higher production costs. He states that “we still have so much market share to take and that means if costs increase for us, it will also increase for everybody else. When this happens, the bigger brands have to worry more because they already have a lot of market share. The impact is more.”
The Nothing Phone (1) was first launched in 2022 and is now available in more than 35 countries. Pei sees the UAE, GCC, and India as key markets for Nothing’s overall strategy, with the UAE pricing for the 128GB model ranging between Dh1,349 and Dh1,498 and for the 256GB model ranging between Dh1,835 and Dh2,232. Nothing products are available online and in Sharaf DG stores.
Pei notes that as a new brand, they have to “find their own tribe” and then provide them with a better experience than other brands can provide. Pei says that “There are a lot of young people who don’t want to have the same smartphone or the same earphones as their parents. Good for us.” Nothing has onboarded more Gen Z customers than its competitors.
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