Electronics manufacturing services company Optiemus on Tuesday said it will acquire an initial 51.1% stake in a joint venture with consumer technology company Nothing to commercialise and sell CMF products, including smartphones and their components.
The development will pave the way for CMF, which was launched by Nothing as a product line in 2023, to become an independent smartphone brand with majority Indian ownership.
Optiemus said its board has approved entering into a binding term sheet with Nothing Electronics Private Limited to establish the joint venture, subject to fulfilment of conditions precedent, necessary approvals and execution of definitive agreements.
“Subject to the fulfilment of conditions precedent and receipt of necessary approvals and execution of definitive agreements, the company will initially acquire 51.1 per cent of the equity share capital of the proposed JV company,” Optiemus said in an exchange filing.
Nothing CEO Carl Pei separately announced that CMF will transition from being a product line of Nothing to an independent brand incorporated in India with a majority of Indian shareholders.
The expanded partnership builds on the strategic manufacturing joint venture announced by Nothing and Optiemus in September 2025, which established India as a production hub for Nothing and CMF products.
In a joint statement issued separately, the companies said Optiemus will also participate in Nothing’s upcoming Series A investment round for the CMF brand.
“That joint venture will now evolve into a deeper, more comprehensive partnership: manufacturing, ownership, and research and development are now united under a single Indian entity with CMF,” the statement said.
The companies plan to go beyond manufacturing and ownership and develop full-stack, end-to-end research and development capabilities for CMF in India. These will include industrial design, mechanical engineering, camera engineering, software, connectivity and component engineering.
Pei said India has the engineering talent, consumer market and manufacturing capabilities needed to build a global technology business.
“We have already proven at Nothing that an independent brand can build its own design, software and engineering capabilities, create a global brand and ship millions of products around the world. Now we want to bring that blueprint to India through CMF, together with Optiemus, and build it here, for the world,” he said.
The companies said the initiative is aimed at taking India’s role in the smartphone value chain beyond assembly and manufacturing towards technology development, local intellectual property and global exports.
They said much of the smartphone engineering and component ecosystem is concentrated in China, where it has developed over years through demand from local smartphone brands and investment in research and development.
“Previous generations of Indian smartphone brands largely competed on assembly, distribution and price, while that deeper engineering and supplier base stayed offshore. CMF's ambition is to create a similar demand-driven ecosystem in India, where engineering talent, component suppliers, local IP and product development can scale and drive innovation together,” the statement said.
According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, CMF grew 83% year-on-year by volume in 2025.