{"id":808044,"date":"2025-12-02T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=808044"},"modified":"2025-12-02T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T02:00:00","slug":"how-nothing-plans-to-become-the-go-to-tech-brand-for-gen-z-creatives","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=808044","title":{"rendered":"How Nothing Plans to Become the Go-To Tech Brand for Gen Z Creatives"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Technology<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

How Nothing Plans to Become the Go-To Tech Brand for Gen Z Creatives<\/h1>\n
By <\/span>Amy O\u2019Brien<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n

December 2, 2025<\/p>\n

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    Nothing CEO Carl Pei and incoming CBO Charlie Smith<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n
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    Over the last few years covering tech, headphone and smartphone maker Nothing has always stood out to me as a bit of an outlier. In 2020, Swedish-born founder Carl Pei dared to launch a challenger smartphone out of London, 13 years after Apple\u2019s iPhone first dropped. Consumer tech hardware is an industry that requires scale to succeed, and Pei could have built Nothing out of larger markets like the US or China. But he chose London for its design and brand-positioning potential, in a move that seems to be paying off.<\/p>\n

    Nothing\u2019s growth has accelerated in the last two years, with revenues increasing 150% to over $500 million in 2024. Pei says the company is on track to hit $1 billion in sales for 2025, and has collectively sold seven million of its headphones, earbuds and smartphones since launch. In September, Nothing was valued at $1.3 billion in a $200 million funding round led by early Facebook backer Tiger Global. Investors are backing its plans to double down on growth in the US in 2026 and invest in building \u201cnew form factors and software\u201d involving AI, Pei tells me.<\/p>\n

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    Nothing’s Phone 3a (top), Phone 3a Pro (bottom), and 3D printed moulds of design mock ups (right)<\/p>\n

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    Nothing\u2019s audio products are its bestsellers in the US, France, Germany and Australia, where it\u2019s reached a 2.5% market share. India is its biggest market for smartphones, where it\u2019s gained a 2% market share. In the global scheme of things, this is minute. But, when we meet at the design studio in Nothing\u2019s North London HQ, Pei explains how he is doubling down on growth to transform the business from an \u201cif-you-know-you-know\u201d European challenger brand to the the younger generations\u2019 most-beloved tech power, globally.<\/p>\n

    Pei is also keen to infiltrate culture. In the last year, the company has sponsored concept store openings, while its headphones are increasingly hooked around bagstraps at fashion parties. They also appeared on the runways of Marie Lueder and Jane Wade\u2019s Spring\/Summer 2026 fashion shows in London and New York, respectively.<\/p>\n

    Vogue Business<\/em> can exclusively reveal that he\u2019s hired ex-Loewe CMO Charlie Smith to take those fashion plans even further. Smith will join Nothing\u2019s executive team as chief brand officer in January next year, overseeing the company\u2019s global brand, image, marketing, communications and store design. He spent seven years at the Spanish luxury house, and was instrumental in forming the tongue-in-cheek TikTok strategy that transformed the brand from a craft-led heritage label into a buzzy, Gen Z-favorite luxury house.<\/p>\n

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    Carl Pei and Charlie Smith look at model elements of Nothing\u2019s products with workshop model maker Inigo Robbins<\/p>\n

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    \u201cI think a lot of fashion brands and technology companies have been taking themselves a bit too seriously,\u201d Smith says. \u201cBut I think through this idea of challenging the status quo, Nothing has this opportunity to be the brand for the next generation who wants to have fun expressing their personalities through the tech they use.\u201d<\/p>\n

    Connecting to Gen Z<\/strong><\/h2>\n

    With prices ranging between \u00a3239 and \u00a3799 for its smartphones and \u00a3299 for its Headphone (1), Nothing\u2019s tech is more affordable than that of its larger rivals. This is something that\u2019s resonating particularly well among Gen Z, which is also its main audience. Nothing\u2019s average customer is 26 years old.<\/p>\n

    This has been no accident. The company\u2019s current mission statement is \u201cto make tech fun, and inspire human creativity\u201d \u2014\u00a0two things Pei, who was born in 1989, says Apple did for him in the aughts, but then lost as it scaled. \u201cI was thinking, who is actually inspiring the next generation right now? Today, perhaps for the youth, Apple feels more like Microsoft when I was younger, like this big corporation.\u201d<\/p>\n