CMF Phone 3 Pro will not launch this year, Nothing co-founder reveals why
Follow UsNothing and CMF co-founder Akis Evangelidis has confirmed there will be no new CMF Phone launch in 2026
A true successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro would now cost Rs 30,000–35,000 to build, he said
CMF will still launch new products and categories this year
Nothing and CMF co-founder Akis Evangelidis has confirmed that there will be no new CMF Phone launch this year, citing rising memory component costs as the reason. He shared the decision on X in response to ongoing speculation about a successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro, which was well received by buyers and the Nothing community.
Survey“We can’t build a phone that feels like a genuine step forward at a price that makes sense for CMF,” Evangelidis wrote, adding that the company would rather be transparent about the decision than release a product it was not proud of. He went on to clarify the scale of the issue in a reply to a follower who suggested simply re-releasing the CMF Phone 2 Pro at a slightly higher price. According to Evangelidis, launching that exact phone today, with identical specifications, would likely cost around Rs 30,000–35,000 given current memory pricing, a steep jump from its original positioning as a budget device.
Evangelidis did note that CMF has other plans for the year, including new products and what he described as entirely new categories, though no further details were shared. He also teased that Nothing’s own smartphone launch season is not yet finished.
Why are memory prices the problem
The timing lines up with a broader slowdown CyberMedia Research (CMR) flagged in its Q1 2026 India smartphone market review. According to the report, shipments declined 2% year-on-year in the quarter, driven largely by a sharp rise in DRAM and NAND flash prices that pushed up device costs across the industry. The effect was that the premium segment grew 25%, while the affordable segment declined 46% and the value-for-money segment fell 12%, as price-sensitive buyers deferred upgrades.
CMR projects a 10-12% full-year decline for the Indian smartphone market in 2026, with continued pressure expected in the lower price segments. Amit Sharma, Senior Analyst at CMR’s Industry Intelligence Group, pointed to a specific gap opening up as a result. “The Rs 5,000-15,000 segment is being left underserved,” he said, describing it as a significant opportunity for OEMs that can still deliver differentiated value at accessible prices.
CMF’s situation reflects exactly this: a phone that once made sense at a budget price point no longer pencils out at the same cost, given how much memory components now contribute to the bill of materials.
The closest thing CMF fans have to a budget option right now is, fittingly, a Nothing phone. The Nothing Phone (3a) Lite, launched in India in November 2025, shares most of its core specifications with the CMF Phone 2 Pro. Where the Phone 3a Lite differs mainly is in being slightly lighter and carrying a more capable camera system. It launched at Rs 20,999 and is currently priced at Rs 25,999, a price jump that itself illustrates the same memory-driven cost pressure Evangelidis is describing.
What happens to existing CMF phone plans
Tipster Yogesh Brar added more detail on X, stating that existing CMF Phone projects already in development have been moved under the Nothing brand instead, including a phone reportedly launching next month. This suggests the hardware and engineering work behind a planned CMF device has not been scrapped entirely, but rather repositioned to launch under Nothing rather than CMF, possibly allowing it to absorb a higher price point more comfortably within Nothing’s brand identity.
For now, anyone holding out for an affordable new CMF Phone in 2026 will need to wait, while Nothing’s own upcoming launches may end up carrying some of what was originally planned for the CMF line.
