From ‘Make in India’ to ‘Engineer in India’: Nothing CEO Carl Pei makes his case
Nothing CEO Carl Pei has said India could be the next major global hub for consumer electronics, following the path of Japan, South Korea and China.
Pei published an open letter on September 21, 2026, titled ‘India Is Inevitable’ on X, which stated that India has already put in place a manufacturing ecosystem to compete with the rest of the world, but requires robust product engineering and research and development (R&D) capabilities.
Pei highlighted the following as assets for India: a huge smartphone market, a youth population and software skills. He said the next step should be “Make in India” to “Engineer in India”, and companies should design, build and upgrade their products locally. The comments come as Nothing prepares to turn its CMF sub-brand into a standalone, majority Indian-owned company.
Carl Pei says India needs real Research and Design
Pei is convinced that manufacturing is not enough to build world-class consumer electronics companies. He said that companies require control of the design of their phones, thermal engineering, cameras, software, antennas and component development.
Pei also gave an example of the smartphone market in India. Indian brands were in the majority around 2015 but were overpowered by the international companies with better engineering and product capabilities, he said. “The better-engineered phone wins,” Pei wrote in his September 21 post.
CMF to become an Indian company
The plan is closely tied to Nothing’s plans regarding CMF. The CMF spin-off, in addition to a joint venture with Indian electronics manufacturer Optiemus that involves an investment of over $100m over three years and aims to create over 1,800 jobs, has not yet been announced.
Pei now says that the CMF will be a standalone firm based in India, with a majority Indian shareholding. There will no longer be any shareholders or partners. It will be a new company with its own engineering and R&D team in India and will build on Nothing’s capabilities, he said.
From manufacturing to engineering
Pei stated that India has already made significant strides in manufacturing its own smartphones. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has also been encouraging more electronics manufacturing in India, with various schemes for mobile phones, components and the development of electronics supply chains. The Electronics Component Manufacturing Scheme covers display and camera module sub-assemblies, PCBs and other components.
Pei says the next challenge is to develop companies capable of creating demand for increasingly complex parts and spurring Indian suppliers to evolve their capabilities.
Pei draws lessons from China
Based on his eight years of experience in China, Pei noted that the country’s electronics industry is developing, and smartphone brands have started asking for higher-level solutions from local manufacturers. He thinks that in India, with stronger local brands driving suppliers, engineers and software teams to develop new capabilities, it could all be a cycle.
Pei has ambitious goals for CMF, with 100 million phones per year. He said that if this is achieved, it could help establish an ecosystem of products engineered in India rather than just assembled. “India will produce global consumer electronics companies,” Pei wrote on Monday. “The only question is when, and that depends on who builds them.”
