CMF, the budget-focused technology brand from Nothing, has moved into a new phase after founder Carl Pei revealed that the company is now mostly Indian-owned. CMF has been spun off from Nothing since Nothing announced in March 2023 that it would create an India-based, multi-cultural company. At the time the company did not outline the full restructuring and manufacturing plan but the company did disclose how the new company would be run.
Pei has now provided more clarity, saying that CMF is majority Indian-owned whereas Nothing will be involved as a shareholder and partner. It is that move that will allow CMF to build a stronger connection with India not only as a manufacturing base but also at the core of its corporate identity. In a country where phones are making up the majority of smartphones in the world is also one of the world’s largest mobile manufacturing hubs the development could also point to a shift in the direction from manufacturing the phones locally to developing products and technology in India.
CMF’s India Journey Takes A New Turn
Nothing had announced the CMF spin-off in September 2025 as part of a broader effort to establish a dedicated India-headquartered business. The company also announced a manufacturing joint venture with Optiemus Infracom involving an investment of more than $100 million over three years and the potential creation of more than 1,800 jobs.
CMF India Private Limited was then incorporated as a separate legal entity. In addition, the company built its India operations with new leadership and marketing structure. With Pei’s new ownership disclosure the separation is clearly now looking more like a corporate transformation than corporate restructuring and indeed a more India-oriented operations model.
However, the exact ownership percentage has not been publicly disclosed. Nothing still plays a role in CMF but the company is no longer just another brand controlled completely by its parent organisation.
Carl Pei Wants More Than Smartphone Assembly
For Pei, the bigger issue is not just where smartphones are produced. His argument centers on engineering abilities and the need of Indian technology companies to take more control over product design in the technology industry.
In the last decade India has increased the mobile manufacturing capacity drastically. Most of the smartphones are now manufactured in India, a major change from the mid-2010s. But manufacturing a device locally does not necessarily mean that its core technology has been developed locally.
Pei has highlighted smartphone structure, thermal engineering, camera systems, image processing, operating system development, antenna tuning and supplier collaboration as examples of the work that determines how much engineering control a brand actually has.
This distinction may be important for CMF. If the brand can integrate Indian ownership and manufacturing with vast engineering and product development capabilities, it would represent a different model from simply assembling devices designed elsewhere.
Why India's Earlier Smartphone Brands Matter
Pei has also pointed to India’s previous generation of smartphone companies as an important lesson. Micromax, Intex, Lava and Karbonn had a big presence in the market in the mid-2010s. Their combined share was large enough to make Indian companies major players in the country’s smartphone market.
That position changed as Chinese manufacturers including Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo expanded aggressively in India. Indian brands lost huge market share, while international competitors poured a lot of money into product development, supply chains, marketing and technology.
One of the most frequently cited issues was the reliance of several domestic brands on externally designed smartphones. Instead of building strong proprietary engineering capacities, companies could buy or customise designs manufactured by original design manufacturers.
Pei’s CMF strategy seems to avoid that model. His argument is that local ownership will matter much more if it is coupled with investment in engineering and product development.
Manufacturing Strength Gives CMF A Different Starting Point
Since those earlier smartphone battles in the past few years the Indian electronics ecosystem has changed drastically. The country has expanded manufacturing facilities, supply chains and component ecosystem and government policies have encouraged companies to step up domestic production.
CMF also has an existing relationship with Optiemus Infracom. The investment and manufacturing partnership will provide the company with a large industrial base from which to grow its India operations.
Nothing has already built its presence in the Indian smartphone market with Nothing and CMF products. The company's broader India operations therefore provide CMF with an existing consumer and distribution ecosystem rather than needing the brand to start from zero.
CMF is also targeting the more affordable segment of the market, where smartphones, audio products and wearables compete heavily on design, specifications and pricing. Its challenge will be to maintain differentiation while expanding its local capabilities.
What The Ownership Change Means For Consumers
For current CMF customers, the ownership change does not automatically mean immediate changes to smartphone prices, warranties or after-sales services. There has been no indication that customers should expect an overnight shift in the way existing products are supported.
The more important changes are likely to emerge over time through future products and the company’s investment decisions. If more engineering and product development moves into India, consumers could eventually see devices with more input from Indian design and technology teams.
The expansion of manufacturing could also enhance the company’s production and export capabilities. But how CMF will structure its engineering teams and supplier relationships in the years to come will impact these efforts.
The Bigger Test Is Yet To Come
Becoming majority Indian-owned is a significant corporate development, but ownership alone does not establish a technology company's engineering credentials. CMF will have to demonstrate how much of its product development, software, camera technology, hardware engineering and supplier collaboration is done in India.
The company’s future products will therefore give a clearer indication of whether its India strategy is changing the underlying technology-development model or primarily the ownership and manufacturing structure.
At the current time CMF's status is just one more step in the evolution of India's consumer electronics industry. The country has developed major smartphone manufacturing capabilities. The next step is to build companies that can marry those capabilities with original engineering, product development and globally competitive brands.
Carl Pei's recent move places CMF in that experiment, for real. The outcome will depend on what the company will do in the years to come about and ship CMF products and services, not just where its ownership is registered.
