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From the outside looking in, it’s been an interesting journey for Carl Pei and Nothing, but the company has seen some real success since the launch of the ear (1) headphones. In fact, the company confirmed that it has shipped “over 100,000 units” since the ear (1) were released back in August of 2021.
Building on this success is key, and that’s where today’s announcement comes into play. Not only has Nothing raised an additional $50 million in funding, but it is also announcing an all-new partnership with Qualcomm to “power its future tech ecosystem”.
“The successful launch of our first product, ear (1), proved that there is room for a new challenger brand to emerge and disrupt today’s sea of sameness. Users deserve better products that are simpler to use, accessible, yet look amazing,” said Carl Pei, CEO and Co-founder of Nothing. “Seamless connectivity is paramount to achieving our vision of a future without barriers between people and technology. We look forward to working alongside Qualcomm Technologies and our strategic investors to achieve Nothing’s next phase of growth.”
“We are excited to help Nothing bring to life its highly anticipated ecosystem of tech products,” said Enrico Salvatori, senior vice-president and president, Qualcomm Europe/MEA, Qualcomm Europe, Inc. “By combining the power and efficiency of Snapdragon mobile platforms with 5G connectivity across many different categories of devices, we are fostering the development of innovative products that are intended to benefit consumers and deliver richer, more immersive experiences.”
Of course, Nothing didn’t provide any additional details to describe what this “future tech ecosystem” will look like. But considering that Qualcomm SVP Enrico Salvatori did make mention of 5G connectivity, perhaps this is a clue that Nothing is working on a new smartphone. The move wouldn’t come as too much of a surprise given that Nothing acquired Essential earlier this year. But until Pei gives us a better idea of what’s to come, we’ll just have to sit back and speculate.
The Nothing Ear (1) are some pretty interesting and unique headphones given its $99 price point, but the only way you can currently pick these up is to jump on the Nothing website on Tuesday to try your hand at beating the bots. It’s something that I have failed to do as of yet, but will continue trying to do so until I can get these for myself.
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