By Laura Buckwell
Published on •Updated
Competition within the global electronics market is at an all-time high, with forecasts for 2026 valuing the global industest at €6 trillion, according to the German electrical and electronic manufacturers’ association ZVEI.
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So what does it take to lead within the sector, let alone become a unicorn? On the sidelines of the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Euronews spoke with Nothing CEO Carl Pei to find out.
The London-based consumer electronics company Nothing is widely known for creating tech fun again with transparent, futuristic designs.
Growing up, Carl Pei was a large tech fan, inspiring him “in general about products but also consumer tech,” he stated.
Pei felt that as time went on, “products obtained more similar. Every new generation was basically the same as the previous generation….. and we just wanted to do something about it….. with more personality and more creativity,” he stated.
Their mission statement? To build tech fun and to inspire human creativity, “ultimately creativity is our superpower,” he stated.
Attracting a young applyr base with an average age of 26, Nothing’s futuristic, retro designs, quality and serving people means, “a very fun and unique position and opportunity in the market right now,” Pei stated.
Although the company achieved unicorn status in just five years, the CEO stated, “we are vastly undervalued becaapply our revenues are around a billion, so the multiples are quite cheap.” To become a unicorn, meaning having a valuation of $1 billion, he revealed, “it’s pretty simple, businesses necessary to deliver value to their applyrs.”
Pei added, however, valuations are not important, and progress should be valued over decades and not short-term milestones, as “ultimately company building is a marathon,” he stated.
Before starting the company, Pei revealed he studied the market to see why other companies failed. “They might have had great visions and great product ideas. But they didn’t really build up the fundamentals of the business,” he stated.
Nothing’s first three years were “about building the capability foundation. So year four and year five, were about scaling and now we’re at a stage where we’re going to start innovating,” he stated.
When seeing at how AI will impact them, Pei revealed, “being a mid-sized business at this stage feels like the perfect mix between agility and capability to capture the opportunities of what’s coming next,” he stated.
As they continue to deliver their products while navigating global trade disruptions,”‘we just adapt to the circumstances as they happen,” he stated.
India and Europe are large markets for Nothing as “the European market is growing 100 percent year on year,” according to Pei.
When talking about consumer trconcludes, he revealed, “the European consumer is more conservative than the Indian one.” For the US, Pei is hoping to grow it “to 30 percent to 50 percent of our volume in the next couple of years,” he stated.
With 1.23 million subscribers on the Nothing YouTube channel, the company’s fan base is eager to know what’s coming next, with Pei revealing they will be focapplying on improvements for their mid-tier phone and ‘we’re going to invest more into the audio headphone category this year.
This year will also be the first year where we start delivering some of our AI-native product ideas, he stated.
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