Nothing is making its most obvious move yet. The Tiger Global-backed hardware company just opened its first retail store outside London, and it’s landing exactly where you’d expect: Bengaluru, India.
This isn’t some token gesture or experimental pop-up. India is Nothing’s strongest market, period. We’re talking over 2% smartphone market share according to IDC, which might sound small until you realize how brutally competitive the Indian market actually is. The company saw 85% year-over-year growth in Q2 2025, making it the fastest-growing brand in the country.
Carl Pei isn’t pretending this store is just about selling phones either. The two-story space reads like a love letter to manufacturing nerds, complete with production line setups where products come out after purchase and testing machines showing USB port and water resistance checks. It’s experiential retail done right, turning the mundane process of quality assurance into something people might actually want to see.
The CMF Wildcard
Here’s where things get interesting. The store will showcase both Nothing’s main line and CMF, its budget brand that spun off last year. CMF isn’t some afterthought slapped together in Shenzhen. It’s headquartered in India with a joint venture involving local ODM Optiemus.
Pei draws a clear line between the two brands. Nothing stays niche with higher price points while CMF goes after the masses. But he’s quick to clarify that CMF isn’t churning out rebadged garbage like most budget brands do. There’s actual design consideration happening here, even if the price tags don’t reflect premium positioning.
The differentiation matters because India’s smartphone market doesn’t reward laziness. Consumers here are savvy, price-conscious, and absolutely willing to switch brands if something better comes along. Having two distinct brands lets Nothing play in different sandboxes without diluting either identity.
Retail Theater Goes Global
Nothing isn’t alone in treating India like a priority market for physical retail. Apple is opening its sixth store in the country this month in Mumbai’s Borivali area. When you’ve got Apple treating India as a tier-one retail destination, you know the business case is solid.
The interesting part is what comes next. Nothing says Tokyo and New York stores are in the pipeline, though they’re keeping quiet about timelines. That’s the right call. Better to nail the Bengaluru execution than rush into markets where they don’t have the same organic momentum.
The company isn’t exactly strapped for cash either. Last year’s $200 million Series C at a $1.3 billion valuation gives them runway to experiment with retail without betting the farm. Total funding sits at $450 million, which buys a lot of factory-themed store fixtures and USB testing displays.
What’s smart about this approach is that Nothing is building retail presence where their community already exists rather than trying to manufacture hype in markets where nobody knows who they are. Bengaluru has the userbase concentration, the tech-savvy demographics, and apparently enough people who care about transparent design language to justify a flagship store. Sometimes the obvious play is obvious because it’s actually the right move.
