Nothing, the tech venture launched by Carl Pei, who was also the co-founder of OnePlus, a company that has a plethora of fans, is all set to launch its first product, with the debutant being a wireless earbud. This is after OnePlus itself forayed into the truly wireless earphone segment in 2020. The company announced that the earbuds would be launched soon, and it got us thinking, does the product pose any threat to companies such as Samsung, Xiaomi and Realme, all of whom enjoy varying levels of success when it comes to the audio segment in India, at least amongst the tech enthusiasts.
Why the Nothing Earbuds Will Pose A Threat To Their Alternatives
Whilst this article might seem confusing to some of you, considering the fact that the company is yet to announce the specifics of the earbuds, with the launch and in-hand experience being a rather distant opportunity but, there are some hints that indicate that the first earbuds will be a successful product from the company.
First of all, Carl Pei acquired Essential when Nothing was founded and, the former is known for offering simple, elegant yet premium hardware. The Essential PH-1 and other devices from the company, which were slated to launch, were all under the same premise, offer great quality and ease of use without any sort of overcomplication. Given that the company was completely acquired, certain key employees must also have moved to the company, and their expertise would definitely help tune the product, at least when it comes to the hardware side of things.
The founder of Nothing also co-founded OnePlus and, anyone familiar with tech will know that the company is well known for offering the best for less. It would be ideal for expecting a similar approach from the Nothing brand, with good audio quality without having to pay exorbitant prices, something that is required for offerings from the likes of Bose, Samsung. Carl has obviously studied the market carefully and, considering the current situation, it would be highly unlikely to see a proper premium product, since there are two cons to hit the ground running with a premium product, as, first of all, people are avoiding spending a lot of money during these tough times. The second issue is that of brand value since the premium segment is more dependent on brand value and popularity since the target audience does not have the time to sit around and experience different products or compare the offerings, as is evident from the success that Apple enjoys within the segment.
Carl has openly stated that companies these days have become ‘cold’ and streamlined, and his brand wishes to do things differently. Whilst we will have to wait to see what the exact product is, we can see that from the timing of his departure from OnePlus, he wanted to avoid a company that became just another mid-range competitor, offering minor changes. The Nothing brand stands for something different, and, as such, it is but expected that the company would just launch another pair of earbuds, especially considering how the promotional material has been like, the product will be a testament to what the brand in itself stands for and, from the looks of it, it will not be just another tech product. So, whilst the specifics are not out, there are signs of success; hence, it is our recommendation to hold any decisions regarding purchasing truly wireless earbuds for some time since there is a strong chance of Nothing doing something very different with its first-ever product.
