Indian phone maker Optiemus gets majority stake in CMF, Nothing staying on as partner
Indian phone maker Optiemus is now a majority stakeholder in CMF as Nothing turns its spin-off brand into an Indian company. The two companies, along with some other partners, will jointly develop new products and CMF "will build on Nothing's proven experience" to create new phones and other devices.
Nothing is turning its spin-off brand CMF into a standalone business based in India. As part of the change, CMF will become an Indian company with phone maker Optiemus Group acquiring a majority stake. As per reports, Optiemus Group will have a 51.1 per cent stake in the proposed joint venture, with Nothing staying on as a partner as well as a guiding-hand that will help CMF create new phones and other devices.
The deepening of the partnership between these two companies comes almost a year after they had announced a strategic manufacturing joint venture. Now, according to a press note issued by Nothing, “that joint venture will now evolve into a deeper, more comprehensive partnership” that will include “manufacturing, ownership, and R&D.”
The two companies announced that Optiemus will also take part in the upcoming Series A investment round for the CMF brand. This comes just a day after Nothing CEO Carl Pei announced plans to turn CMF into an Indian smartphone brand.
“We have already proven at Nothing that an independent brand can build its own design, software and engineering capabilities, create a global brand and ship millions of products around the world,” Nothing CEO Carl Pei said in a statement. “Now we want to bring that blueprint to India through CMF, together with Optiemus, and build it here, for the world.”
Optiemus is an Indian manufacturing firm that makes electronic devices for various companies, including Oppo and OnePlus. It has also worked with brands like Nokia and HTC in the past.
CMF to become an Indian brand
CMF already had its headquarters based in India. The joint venture with Optiemus takes things a step further with Nothing’s new vision for the brand with a focus on local manufacturing and R&D.
As per the two companies, the plan is said to move beyond assembly and build CMF into India's first smartphone brand with full-stack, end-to-end R&D capabilities. This includes industrial design, mechanical engineering, camera engineering, software engineering, connectivity engineering, and component engineering.
The intellectual property (IP) created through the programme will be held locally, with products designed and engineered in India rather than only assembled here, the companies said. Nothing will remain a shareholder and partner in the restructured company.
Optiemus CEO Ashok Gupta said that this venture was aided by the government’s Mobile Phone Manufacturing Scheme (MPMS) approved earlier this year with an outlay of Rs 62,500 crore to support smartphone production and Indian brands.
The announcement also comes as CMF reshapes its product plans. Earlier this year, Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis announced that the brand had decided not to release a successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro in 2026 due to rising RAM prices. Though the brand has launched other products, including the CMF Buds Neo.
At the same time, we are seeing more Indian brands enter the smartphone segment. Boltt, a subbrand of wearable maker Fireboltt, released two smartphones – the Boltt Evo and Boltt Ace last month. Mivi, another wearable brand, is set to launch the Mivi One smartphone later this month.