Nothing sub brand CMF scraps smartphone sequel due to memory price spikes to prioritize quality over compromise while mainline hardware remains as planned
Nothing sub brand CMF has scrapped plans to bring out a sequel to its iconic budget smartphone this year. Akis Evangelidis, the co founder of the e brand took to X, formerly known as Twitter to share the news. He cited global memory prices spike as to the reason behind the cancellation.
This decision comes after the successful launch of the CMF Phone 2 Pro, a budget device, which received huge commercial success and critical verdicts, notably winning the Budget Phone of the Year award in the MKBHD tech video. Evangelidis explained the team was already working on a follow up but would not want to compromise on quality. Ergo, instead of shipping a phone which didn't introduce a real jump forward, the CMF team preferred not to ship any phone at all for the year.
This mode of transparent communication signals the continued struggles of small hardware vendors as volatile component prices cut into budget sector margins. In opting to withhold production, CMF thereby seeks to maintain reputation for high value hardware without deflating prices as a result of hardware supply constraints.
The smartphone lineup may be put on hold for the year, but CMF by Nothing still intends to build out its general hardware ecosystem. Evangelidis revealed the brand still has a handful of new products planned, some entering completely new product categories, in order to keep consumers engaged before the semi supply chain stabilizes.
In addition, the current smartphone launch season at parent company Nothing is still ongoing. The announcement had hinted that the reveal of mainline Nothing branded smartphones remain as planned. If anything, this seems to imply that aside from the entry level CMF lineup, Nothing would still be unveiling some mid range and high end mobile devices in the coming months.
