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Nothing is the unsung hero of the mobile industry. But for how long?

Published: Aug 30, 2024, 8:31 AM

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Nothing is the unsung hero of the mobile industry. But for how long?

When OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei departed the company he helped create and turn into a global success story to start an entirely new venture called "Nothing" (of all things), I have to admit... I didn't know what to think. But while the name of the UK-based consumer electronics outfit continues to baffle me (and occasionally make my work unnecessarily difficult), there's no denying Pei's crazy gamble seems to be paying off rather handsomely.

The latest growth figures shared by none other than Pei on social media are, sigh, nothing to sneeze at, and before proceeding further, I promise I will do my darndest to avoid the use of puns and wordplay of any sort involving the unconventional tech brand born in early 2021.

What's hiding under Nothing's big numbers?

You don't have to be a math whiz to understand that it's (theoretically) much easier to multiply one apple by seven than a million or ten million apples. In other words, you can't expect Apple (the company) or Samsung to boost their quarterly smartphone shipments by close to 700 percent... unless we discover life on another planet, and said planet decides to embrace Earth's iPhones en masse.

That being said, there are plenty of smartphone vendors (both new and old) that could theoretically improve their sales scores by 693 percent, but are instead struggling to find growth of 69.3 or even 6.93 percent. I'm looking at you, Sony. And you, Asus. And Huawei, and Realme, and even Google and Motorola.

Excited to share that Nothing is the world’s fastest growing brand for smartphones and wireless earbuds.

Smartphones:
- 693% YoY growth in Q2 2024
- 246% YoY growth in H1 2024
- Fastest growing brand in UK, Japan, Saudi Arabia and India in H1 2024

Wireless earbuds:
- 769%… pic.twitter.com/bzk6ACR3sX
— Carl Pei (@getpeid) August 26, 2024

That makes Nothing's Q2 2024 progress compared to the same period of last year a pretty incredible achievement regardless of what the company's Q2 2023 starting point was.

It may not sound like it, but that 246 percent year-on-year growth estimated for the first half of 2024 is perhaps even more remarkable, suggesting a longer-term trend that Nothing could well sustain going forward. For how long? That, my friends and dear readers, is the million or maybe billion-dollar question, and it depends on way too many variables to discuss in a single article.

To his credit, Carl Pei seems to have no difficulty admitting his company's "base" remains relatively small, with a lot of hard work being required to "keep progressing." This is the same kind of down-to-earth and realistic attitude that undoubtedly helped OnePlus thrive during its first years of existence, although it does stray a bit from the candid Pei who shared a much more specific milestone nearly five months ago.

While we don't know how high Nothing's 3 million cumulative sales figure has jumped in the meantime, it's easy to tell that the company is not among the world's top five smartphone or wireless earbuds vendors... yet.

The sky is the limit for Nothing's growth. Or is it?

Looking at the Q2 2024 smartphone market report where Nothing doesn't rank in the top five global vendors, one can easily notice there's practically nothing new under the sun (darn it, another "nothing" pun). That suggests breaking into the industry's major league is no easy feat, which in turn means Nothing's progress will probably slow down sooner rather than later.

OnePlus just so happens to be the perfect example of a brand that grew and grew and grew until hitting an invisible ceiling of sorts and a stagnation point that's starting to seem impossible to escape from. Because following his old company's path up to that point feels like an extremely risky endeavor, Carl Pei may want to make sure early on that Nothing won't repeat the OnePlus mistakes of the last few years.

The Nothing Phone (2a) Plus is not exactly the company's most original product. | Image Credit -- PhoneArena

Perhaps the biggest one is a confusing and convoluted product portfolio driving new buyers away before they could give the company a chance. This is an error that Nothing is making as we speak by selling a Phone (2a) Plus that's almost identical to the Phone (2a) and yet more expensive.

The new Nothing Ear are even more perplexing, following after and improving on the Ear (2) without carrying a number in their name and thus making prospective buyers confused regarding their place in the company's current product lineup.

What I like about Nothing is that its products still carry a unique and distinctive identity, which... may not be possible for long. The company will inevitably have to adopt more conventional designs as its sales volumes continue to grow, and at that moment, we'll probably find out exactly what Carl Pei's long-term intentions for this brand are.

In my view, there are two paths Nothing could take after another one or two quarters of "organic" growth. The OnePlus path, in which short-term growth stifles brand identity with potentially catastrophic effects in the long run, and a road so very few companies are bold enough to choose, where Nothing continues to manufacture unique (but hard-to-scale) products, putting its original values and principles above profits.

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.