Nothing has stated its ambition to take on Apple in the smartphone business, albeit in a manner meant to provoke more discussion that serious thought, but another part of the industry is ripe for the taking.
The London-based brand’s co-founder and CEO, Carl Pei, has issued a provocative Instagram video in which he vows to steal Apple’s customers “one bored iPhone user at a time”.
It’s not the first time Nothing has made this kind of brash statement, and while its approach can seem tiresomely obnoxious or even downright disingenuous, it’s wholly understandable.
The upstart brand is only five years old, and it doesn’t have anything like the resources of its more established rivals. If it’s going to make any sort of dent in this mature industry it needs to attract eyeballs, and in the absence of a bottomless well of advertising cash, attention-grabbing social media posts are the most obvious way forward.
Unimpeachable Apple
Let’s address the substance of what’s being suggested here, then.
I don’t think that even Carl Pei himself truly believes that Apple is there for the taking. When it comes to the smartphone business, this is Apple’s world, and all of its rivals are living in it.
Just look at the sheer number of iPhone copycat designs that continue to hit the market, even stretching as far as pre-emptive launches to get ahead of Apple phones that don’t yet exist.
Huawei
I suspect that Apple’s position in the smartphone business is unimpeachable at this point, because it set the terms for this fight and owns a vast portion of the mindshare.
Where Apple is likely to come under serious threat is with whatever comes after the smartphone, be that wearable AI-driven devices or something else. But that’s a topic for another time.
A far more viable target is the more affordable sub-flagship smartphone market – and I suspect that Nothing knows it.
Mid-range malaise
It hasn’t been a particularly good or exciting year for mid-range phones. The Google Pixel 10a is little more than a repackaged Google Pixel 9a, while the Samsung Galaxy A57 made few consequential upgrades for its hiked-up asking price.
Spiking component costs are hitting this portion of the market, where margins tend to be even tighter than at the top end, effectively halting (or at least pausing) innovation.
I’d argue that one manufacturer has stood out through all this. You guessed it: Nothing.
Jon Mundy / Foundry
The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is not an outstanding mid-range phone. It didn’t even make our latest list of the best mid-range smartphones on the market.
What it is, however, is “daringly different”, to quote my own review.
The phone’s striking unibody design and unique (if somewhat gimmicky) Glyph Matrix notification system stands apart from every other phone selling for south of £500.
“As a direct alternative to the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung, it’s great to see something truly distinct”, I concluded.
An opportunity Nothing can’t afford to ignore
Of course, such innovation comes at a higher price than previous models, which makes the value proposition a little trickier to justify. But it’s offering genuine excitement in an otherwise moribund 2026 mid-range scene.
If value’s really what you’re after, then consider the Nothing Phone (4a) with its stand-out semi-transparent design, excellent display, and beautifully crisp UI – all for just £349.
Foundry | Alex Walker-Todd
This more affordable handset did make our mid-range round-up, taking the Best Value title.
Nothing isn’t going to be stealing too many iPhone customers – certainly not in any quantity that will trouble the Cupertino giant, at any rate.
What it could conceivably do, if it irons out some of the idiosyncrasies with its current course, is carve out a dominant position in the mid-range market. It’s an opportunity Nothing can’t afford to ignore.
