Carl Pei’s Nothing came into the limelight last month for absolutely no reason, other than the fact that it is a new venture for the OnePlus co-founder. The company will eventually venture into tech products, starting with audio and going over to other categories later. A tweet from yesterday suggested that Nothing might be launching something next week. However, the company has removed the tweet as of now.
Nothing initially tweeted out about a milestone announcement from the company. This was interpreted as a product launch by the media and hence, many assumed we could be seeing Carl Pei taking to stage for the first time to launch something since his OnePlus days. “A new important milestone in Nothing’s journey is coming up next week,” said the tweet. This tweet, however, has gone now.
Nothing launching nothing?
In a previous interview, Founder Carl Pei hinted that the company’s first product could be an audio product. Pei hasn’t shared any specifics about Nothing’s first product but we won’t be surprised if we could be seeing inspirations from audio products that he launched under the OnePlus brand. Surely, Nothing could have a completely different direction in terms of design philosophy to differentiate it from the OnePlus and all other brands.
Image: Carl Pei
As for Pei’s former employer, OnePlus focused on the wireless audio category a lot last year and gave us some great audio gear at reasonable prices. The OnePlus Buds and OnePlus Buds Z were nice true wireless earphones on the whole. Hence, we could possibly see Nothing continuing that legacy with its first few audio products.
What remains to be seen is how Nothing handles its manufacturing and design of products. All Carl Pei shared was a name for his company but no plans for products as well as services. If the past is anything to indicate, it could be like the origin of OnePlus, where the company takes an entire year to rollout its first product for a niche segment, before going after ambitious targets.
OnePlus initially started off as a geek brand with its spec-rich phones that were only available for purchase via an invite system. The company, however, always relied on Oppo’s resources to design and distribute its products. Even today, OnePlus products are highly relatable to that of Oppo and other BBK-owned brands.
Will we see a Nothing audio product next year then? Will Carl Pei end up following the same steps that he took at OnePlus? Will we see new smartphone eventually from the company? I guess we have to wait in order to find out. Nothing originally announced intentions to launch its smart products in the first half of 2021.
