Nothing Partners Optiemus To Double Down On India Manufacturing

London-based smartphone major Nothing has announced entering into a joint venture with Noida-based Optiemus Infracom to establish India as the global production and export hub for Nothing and CMF products. The JV will see Nothing’s sub-brand CMF (abbreviation for Color, Material, Finish) being spun off to operate as an independent entity to help the company make India its base for operations, R&D and manufacturing moving forward. 

Together, Nothing’s CMF and Optiemus Infracom plan on investing over $100 Mn (INR 886.7 Cr) over the next three years in the country. Nothing claims to have already invested $200 Mn (INR 1,773.5 Cr) in fortifying its India operations over the years. 

“India will play a key role in shaping the future of the global smartphone industry. CMF has been well received by the market since we launched it two years ago. With our end-to-end capabilities, we are uniquely positioned to now build it into India’s first truly global smartphone brand,” Nothing’s CEO Carl Pei said. 

Important to highlight that Nothing launched its sub-brand CMF in 2023. The design-focused tech sub-brand specialises in affordable consumer electronics such as smartphones, earbuds, smartwatches, and accessories. 

The JV announcement comes shortly after the London-based consumer electronics company raised $200 Mn in its Series C round led by Tiger Global, along with participation from investors including Zerodha’s Nikhil Kamath and Qualcomm Ventures. The funds were raised to accelerate its transition from just smartphones to building AI-native consumer hardware and software platforms. 

On the other hand, the partnership with Nothing adds on to the long list of partnerships forged by the Indian electronics manufacturer Optiemus Infracom in recent times. Besides its partnership with Nothing, it has entered into similar agreements with cellphone manufacturers OnePlus and RealMe. It also joined hands with Apple supplier and US gorilla glass maker Corning Inc in December 2023 to help set up its manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu. 

Optiemus has five major manufacturing units across India, providing manufacturing services, repair, refurbishment, and logistics solutions to international and Indian technology companies. 

The two tech majors joining hands is a part of a broader trend of smartphone manufacturers shifting production to India. While Nothing has already started manufacturing its Phone (2a) locally, other companies like Apple, Google and Vivo are increasingly relying on India manufacturing to fuel their global businesses. 

For instance, Apple is producing the entire iPhone 17 lineup entirely in India, as per reports. Its local output of iPhones surged by 53% YoY in H1 2025, with Apple reaching record high exports of $22 Bn in value, comprising around 20% of its global production. 

At the heart of international tech companies’ bullishness on India is the country’s growing domestic tech manufacturing ecosystem. Earlier this year, the Central government claimed that the country now manufactures 325-330 Mn mobile phones every year while an average of 1 Bn mobile phones are used in the country. 

“Indian mobile phones have virtually saturated the domestic market and there’s a substantial uptick in the exports of mobile phones. The exports, which were almost non-existent in 2014, have now surpassed INR 1.29 Lakh Cr,” the Centre said in a statement in February 2025.