Nothing's budget brand CMF won't be releasing a new phone this year

At a glance:

• CMF will not launch a follow‑up to the Phone Pro 2 this year due to rising memory costs.
• Memory price hikes are driven by AI‑related demand, with Apple and Samsung also warning of higher RAM costs.
• Nothing says CMF will still release other new products and entirely new categories later this year.

What happened

Nothing's budget brand CMF announced it will skip a new Phone Pro 2 successor in 2024. In a post on X, co‑founder Akis Evangelidis wrote, "A lot of you have been asking when the next CMF phone is coming and as always we'd rather be transparent." He explained that CMF had been working on a follow‑up but that current memory prices prevent the company from building a device that "feels like a genuine step forward at a price that makes sense for CMF." The decision means consumers expecting a next‑gen budget flagship will have to wait.

CMF launched the Phone Pro 2 as its latest flagship in April 2023. At the time it was billed as the lightest and slimmest smartphone Nothing has ever designed and claimed a two‑day battery life on a single charge. A few months after that launch, Nothing spun CMF out into an independent subsidiary headquartered in India, which has become the company's strongest market.

Why memory prices matter

RAM prices have surged over the past year as manufacturers divert production to meet the massive AI buildouts. The resulting supply shortages have forced Apple and Samsung to warn that price hikes are coming for their devices as well. IDC now predicts PC shipments could shrink by almost 10 percent this year because higher RAM costs are squeezing margins across the ecosystem.

For a budget brand like CMF, those price pressures are especially acute. The company relies on affordable memory to keep its phones competitively priced, and the current market conditions make it impossible to introduce a model that feels like a genuine upgrade without inflating the price beyond its target audience's willingness to pay.

What it means for consumers and the market

Consumers who were hoping for a refreshed CMF flagship will see the roadmap delayed, at least for 2024. Existing models such as the Phone Pro 2 may remain on shelves longer, potentially offering better value as the brand focuses resources elsewhere. The broader budget‑smartphone segment will feel the ripple effect as rivals adjust their own cost structures.

Despite the phone pause, CMF is not idle. Nothing says the subsidiary will launch several new products and "some entirely new categories" later this year, hinting at diversification beyond smartphones. This shift could open up fresh competition opportunities in wearables, IoT devices, or other emerging tech spaces.