Carl-Pei’s Nothing has been among the leading smartphone makers in today’s market, thanks to the expertise he gained with OnePlus’s success.
As it’s almost 4 years since Nothing emerged into the market, many users and tech enthusiasts have always been curious about the emergence of “Nothing” as a brand, and that’s when we get a shocking revelation from OnePlus’s ex-founder how Nothing as the brand started which was by acquiring the loss-making smartphone startup, Essential.
Carl Pei Opens Up About Why He Acquired Essential to Start Nothing
Image Credits: Nothing
Nothing released a video featuring the man behind the success and the acquisition, Carl Pei, who opened up about why he chose to give a financial boost to a closed company.
About Essential
Image Credits: Nothing
For the readers who aren’t aware, Essential was among the emerging smartphone startups; Essential was once a $1 Billion unicorn with the backing of an e-commerce giant like Amazon!Â
The smartphone maker was working on a phone under the model name “PH1,” also referred to as “Project Gem,” which is still, to date, among the tallest phones one can ever buy.
Was that a credible phone for users? Well, Essential brand completely shut down before even launching the phone.
In 2020, after leaving OnePlus, Carl Pie tried to open doors to work on a new segment of smartphones, and that’s when the complete acquisition happened.
What Did Carl Pie Reveal?
Image Credits: Nothing
In the video released by Nothing, Rob hosts the complete video asking Nothing’s founder about the acquisition. The video starts with Rob showing a hands-on experience with the new Essential PH1 phone, which was almost about to launch.
However, the phone has a ridiculous design with a 4:1 aspect ratio and a taller screen, making it impractical, especially with its ridiculous keyboard.
Moving on, Rob emphasizes how, today, Nothing as a brand has been adding elements, especially the naming of the “Eseential brand” to its new products. Carl Pie explained that initially, he loved the name; the founder described the name as “Simple, Elegant,” which convinced him to buy the trademarks for the company.
While working towards launching the brand, Carl Pie and his team realized that “Essential” as a brand had already been targetting a particular audience before relaunching the brand could lead to confusion, so the team decided to get a name and ended up with “Nothing.”
Furthermore, Nothing’s founder discusses which smartphone part is most expensive when building the phone. You can watch the video down below:
Nothing’s founder denied mentioning how much he bought Essential due to the NDA agreement with the company.
