Nothing, a consumer tech company based in the U.K., wants to take on Apple in the U.S.
The startup, the hardware venture of Carl Pei, co- founder of Chinese mobile phone maker OnePlus, is in early conversations with American carriers about launching a new phone in the U.S., Pei told CNBC.
In July, Nothing launched Phone, a mid-range device with a design similar to Apple's entry level iPhone SE.
The company is backed by Tony Fadell, the creator of the iPod, and is currently only available in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Pei explained in an interview with CNBC why they didn't launch in the U.S. We didn't feel ready before.
The Chinese-Swedish businessman said that they are in talks with carriers in the U.S. to possibly launch a product there.
Smaller firms can't compete with large U.S. carriers because they already have relationships with them.
Pei said that a third of the sales of the Earstick headphones are from the U.S.
There is a lot of interest in our products. I think we could get a lot of growth if we launched our phones there.
According to figures shared with CNBC exclusively, the company expects its revenues to more than triple in 2022. More than 400 people work at it, more than double its previous number. The firm is unprofitable.
Pei said the goal is to be profitable in 24 years. Right now, we are not profitable. The foreign currency exchange made it more difficult. Everything is worth less against the US dollar than it is in pounds, euros, and Indian rupee.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of major currencies, is up more than 8% this year.
Pei wants to challenge Apple in the US.
There is a challenge with theAndroid platform where it is getting more and more dominant. He said that he was concerned about the lock-in with Airdrop among Gen Z.
He said that there might be a time when Apple is 80% of the market and that doesn't leave enough room for other manufacturers.
When contacted by CNBC, Apple was silent.
Pei sympathizes with Musk, who has put pressure on Apple over its restrictions on the App Store.
He said that nothing may have to be done about the problem in a couple of years.
Pei said that it would create a ceiling to the growth of the company.
Pei said his firm has faced a lot of challenges. When it tried to get Apple to make its phones, it faced a lot of difficulties.
According to Pei, Foxconn refused to do business with Nothing due to their past failures.
Pei said that every startup manufacturer has worked with the Taiwanese company. They refused to work with us because every startup that worked with them failed. They were not able to recover their costs when a startup failed.
When contacted by CNBC, Foxconn was silent.
The company had to contend with covid restrictions around the globe. In India, where Nothing makes its phones, the company was unable to fly out engineers due to travel restrictions, with Pei saying the company had to manage its factory on the ground remotely.
He said that they had to hustle to make the phone.
When it was acceptable for people to go outside to buy groceries, Nothing's engineers had to discuss component designs and mechanics during mandated 45 minutes.
Nothing has sold over 1 million products to date, with 600,000 earbuds and 500,000 phones being shipped.
The startup is small and faces a bleak economic outlook where people are being forced to limit their spending.
In Europe, shipments of phones fell in the third quarter year-over-year, although they were up slightly from the previous quarter on the back of the launch of the new phone.
China'sXiaomi and Apple have 23% and 21% market shares, respectively.
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