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