Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

The Nothing Phone 1 won’t be coming to the U.S. after all

Michael Allison
By

The Nothing Phone 1, the latest offering from former OnePlus chief Carl Pei, won’t be coming to the United States this summer. Nothing confirmed the news to PCMag on June 22, shutting down any hope for a U.S. launch. Instead, the Nothing Phone 1 will be launching exclusively in Europe and Asia only, where the company’s carrier partnerships are strongest. Nothing does plan to launch a phone in the U.S. at some point in the future, just not the Phone 1.

In a statement to PCMag, Nothing said the following:

Recommended Videos

While we’d love to bring phone (1) to the entire community around the world, we’re focusing on home markets, including the UK and Europe, where we have strong partnerships with leading local carriers. It takes a lot to launch a smartphone as you know, from ensuring the handset is supported by the country’s cellular technologies to carrier partnerships and local regulation, and as we’re still a young brand we need to be strategic about it.

Related

We have big plans to launch a U.S. supported smartphone in the future. For now, a limited number of our private community investors in the U.S. will be able to get their hands on phone (1) through a closed beta program. In the meantime, if readers really want phone (1) to be available in the US as soon as possible, they should call their carrier to let them know about us.

Official glimpse of Nothing Phone 1 with a parrot sitting on top of phone.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Making this news all the more disappointing is how Nothing’s Phone 1 would stand out in the U.S. market. European and Asian markets already have more variety in phones (see this delightful little Naruto phone as an example). It’s a variety the U.S. desperately lacks, and the Nothing Phone 1 looked like it would be a catalyst in changing that. But, alas, that’s not the case. Nothing plans to set its phone apart from the pack with a wacky selection of dubiously useful LED lights and ringtones.

It’s an interesting strategy, though not necessarily one that the company chose to pursue of its own free will. It likely wasn’t able to convince the U.S. carriers to hop on board. Given that it took OnePlus time to reach that stage, it’s not unexpected that Nothing could be facing similar roadblocks. As for the markets that the Nothing Phone 1 is launching, we know that it is coming to the UK through an exclusive partnership with O2, at the very least.

“We want to make sure that O2 customers always have access to the latest and greatest technology. Nothing phone (1) provides a combination of great design and technology that offers something truly unique for our customers,” Gareth Turpin, Chief Commercial Officer of Virgin Media O2, said in a public statement. “I’m really excited that we are partnering with Nothing to be the exclusive network supplier in the UK, as we continue to reimagine connectivity, offer our customers more choice, and enjoy the benefits and value they expect from O2.”

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Michael Allison
Michael Allison
Mobile News Writer
A UK-based tech journalist for Digital Trends, helping keep track and make sense of the fast-paced world of tech with a…
Is the Nothing Phone 2 available in the U.S.?
The back of the Nothing Phone 2 with the lights activated.

Nothing has been growing in popularity ever since the launch of the Nothing Phone 1 last year, and now that the company is launching its second flagship smartphone — the Nothing Phone 2 — more people than ever before are itching to get their hands on a Nothing smartphone. While there was plenty to like about the Phone 1, the fact that it wasn't available in the U.S. at launch made it difficult to get the widespread attention that it deserved.

Now that the Nothing Phone 2 is here, however, U.S. fans are wondering if they're finally going to get their hands on it at launch or if it'll be regionally exclusive like its predecessor. The Nothing Phone 1 eventually made its way stateside, but it was far from a full-on launch and happened six months after the smartphone debuted for the rest of the world, so fans of the company are hoping that won't be the case with its successor.

Read more
The Nothing Phone 2 just leaked, and it’s not what I expected
Nothing Phone (2) leaked render.

Nothing has been hyping up It’s next phone with executive interviews and social media drop-feeding recently. But merely weeks before the anticipated July launch and eventual brand arrival in the U.S. market, the leaking world has spoiled the design surprise.

Prolific leaker Steve H. (aka @OnLeaks ) teamed up with SmartPrix to drop high-resolution renders of the Nothing Phone 2 based on a “testing stage unit.” To sum up my first impression after seeing these renders, I’d say it’s underwhelming — especially for a brand that takes a lot of pride in its design chops.

Read more
Nothing Phone 2 confirmed to get a major upgrade you can’t see
Nothing Phone 1 with the Nothing Ear 1 headphones.

The Nothing Phone 2 will hit store shelves later this year, and as the brand inches closer to the big day for its highly anticipated phone, it has started drip-feeding the hype around it. Most recently, Nothing co-founder and CEO Carl announced on Twitter that the upcoming phone will draw power from Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset.

Now, this isn’t the latest mobile silicon in Qualcomm’s arsenal, as phones armed with the newer and faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 — like the OnePlus 11 and Galaxy S23 Ultra — are already out there. However, the jump to a Snapdragon 8 series would still be a huge upgrade, as the Nothing Phone 1 made its way to the market rocking the decidedly midrange Qualcomm Snapdragon 778G+ processor.

Read more