After OnePlus, Another Smartphone Brand Faces an Uncertain Global Future

Just two months after officially entering Kenya and outlining plans to expand across East and West Africa, Nothing finds itself facing a very different conversation.

Reports originating in India claim the London-based smartphone maker is preparing to withdraw from more than a dozen international markets, a move that would stand in sharp contrast to the company’s recent push into new territories.

The claims, first published by Digit and later picked up by several technology publications, suggest Nothing could pull back from Japan, the Middle East and parts of Europe while reducing its workforce and trimming research and development operations. The company has not publicly responded, leaving the report unconfirmed, but the timing has drawn attention because it comes only days after OnePlus announced its own restructuring in North America and Europe.

If the report proves accurate, it would represent the biggest strategic rethink since Carl Pei founded Nothing in 2020. It would also raise broader questions about how smaller Android manufacturers are adapting to a market where costs are climbing, consumers are replacing their phones less frequently and competition has become far more intense.

Digit reports that Nothing is considering an exit from 12 or more international markets within the coming weeks as it attempts to reduce costs and concentrate resources on stronger-performing regions.

The publication also claims the company is cutting its global workforce by about 40%, while reducing research and development staff by roughly half in China and by between 30% and 40% in the UK. According to the same report, the Nothing Phone (4b) has shipped around 20,000 units globally since launch, while the Phone (4a) and Phone (4a) Pro have together reached approximately 150,000 units.

Those figures have not been independently verified, and Nothing has yet to confirm any aspect of the reported restructuring. Until the company comments publicly, the report should be viewed as an account of what unnamed sources say is under consideration rather than a confirmed change in strategy.

The reports are striking because they follow one of Nothing’s strongest quarters in India. Counterpoint Research recently identified the company as the country’s fastest-growing smartphone brand during the second quarter of 2026 after it recorded 105% year-over-year growth, helped by demand for the Phone (4a) series and a high-profile sponsorship of Royal Challengers Bengaluru during the Indian Premier League.

The headline figure, however, tells only part of the story. Counterpoint’s data measures Nothing-branded smartphones and does not include CMF, which became a separate brand last year, while percentage growth is naturally easier to achieve from a relatively modest shipment base. A company can outperform rivals in one market and still face difficult decisions elsewhere, particularly when international operations are far more expensive to maintain.

During an official media briefing last week, OnePlus confirmed that it would withdraw from North America and Europe while continuing to honor warranty obligations, software support and after-sales service for existing customers. The company also confirmed that devices sold in those regions will migrate from OxygenOS to Oppo’s ColorOS, reflecting a closer operational relationship between the two brands.

Nothing and OnePlus share more than similar customer bases. Carl Pei co-founded OnePlus before leaving to launch Nothing, while Pete Lau returned to Oppo, where OnePlus has become increasingly integrated into the wider business. That distinction matters because OnePlus now benefits from Oppo’s manufacturing scale, supply chain and research resources, whereas Nothing remains an independent company with considerably fewer resources to absorb rising costs or weaker demand.

The reported restructuring also sits uneasily alongside Nothing’s most recent expansion.

In May, the company officially entered Kenya through a partnership with Mitsumi Distribution, replacing years of unofficial imports with local retail channels, warranty support and after-sales service. Speaking at AI Everything Kenya x GITEX Kenya 2026, Regional Director Rishi Kishor Gupta described Kenya as the starting point for a wider East African rollout that would later extend to Uganda, Rwanda and Nigeria.

That context makes the current reports harder to interpret. The countries mentioned by Digit are Japan, the Middle East and parts of Europe, while Africa is absent from the list. If the information is accurate, the company may be narrowing its international footprint in some regions while continuing to invest in others rather than abandoning overseas expansion altogether.

Nothing’s reported challenges also reflect broader pressures across the smartphone industry.

Component costs have risen sharply since late 2025, with memory prices climbing enough to squeeze margins across the market. Companies such as Samsung, Apple and Xiaomi can spread those costs across tens of millions of devices and negotiate better pricing with suppliers because of their scale. Smaller manufacturers have far less flexibility, especially when they compete in price-sensitive segments where passing higher costs on to consumers is rarely straightforward.

The company has already begun tightening parts of its product strategy. Co-founder Akis Evangelidis has confirmed that CMF will not launch another smartphone during 2026, while the departure of senior executive Himanshu Tandon removes one of the people most closely associated with the sub-brand’s growth in India.

Nothing’s silence leaves several important questions unanswered. It remains unclear which European markets could be affected, whether any reported changes would alter support for existing customers or how the company’s African expansion fits into its longer-term plans.

What is already clear is that the company’s position cannot be summed up by a single headline. India continues to deliver strong growth, Kenya has only recently become an official market and reports now suggest the company may be reconsidering parts of its global presence. Those developments are not necessarily contradictory; they point to a business that may be choosing where it believes its investment will have the greatest impact.

If Nothing confirms the reported restructuring, the story will be less about abandoning international markets than deciding which ones remain worth pursuing.

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