Watch out Apple: London’s smartphone maker Nothing reveals fresh model following £166m Alphabet funding
London tech start-up Nothing unveiled the design of its debut smartphone this morning after securing more than $200m (£166m) in funding from the likes of Alphabet’s venture capital arm EQT Ventures.
While company’s ‘Phone (1)’ will go on sale in the summer, running on Android systems, it is understood that the new product will be made with recycled materials and have a completely transparent exterior.
These new features are designed to set the phone apart from leading models like Apple’s iPhone, and shakeup what co-founder Carl Pei has called “the sleepy smartphone market”. Meanwhile, CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood told City PM Pei “certainly has a mountain to climb”.
Commenting on the announcement, CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood said: “You have to admire Carl Pei’s ambition. The smartphone market is frighteningly competitive and is currently dominated by Apple and Samsung who have incredible resources. The rest of the addressable market is a firefight between numerous Chinese manufacturers desperate to grab share making it very hard to break into the segment.
The good thing with Nothing is that he has a track record in product creation and good experience of how hard it is to make smartphones from his time at OnePlus. However, even with that expertise, Nothing certainly has a mountain to climb. Fortunately its strong fan-following and clever marketing will likely give it a strong start. Sustaining sales on a long term basis is the challenge.”
However, phone fanatics will have to wait until the official launch next month for details on price.