Nothing’s first smartphone went up for auction this week ahead of its July launch, with people paying thousands above its expected price tag. what’s happening?
Startup brand Nothing is set to release its first ever smartphone – the Nothing Phone (1) – in July, and yet this week, fans have shown that they’re willing to pay thousands more than its expected price tag, after 100 devices were put up for auction ahead of launch. But why, in a time of rising living costs and a battered economy, are people so willing to overpay for what is expected to be basically a capable mid-range smartphone, the full specifications and features of which the company hasn’t fully released? One word: hype. Carl Pei, co-founder and CEO of Nothing has proven to be a master of generating hype for the products that he’s been involved in, making some of the best phones in the world over the years. Rising to prominence at Chinese consumer tech giant Oppo before striking out on his own to build sub-brand OnePlus from the ground up (with funding from Oppo’s parent brand, BBK Electronics); Pei has shown that he knows how to cultivate a close-knit and passionate community for the brands he represents and the products those brands make. The first few phones especially were driven by word of mouth and community interaction — these were flagship smartphones with mid-range prices, and they performed. The OnePlus One was a startling surprise at TechRadar when we unboxed it, and subsequent models like the OnePlus 3 showed this brand knew how to evolve a smartphone over time. The parallels between the launch of the OnePlus One and Nothing Phone (1) are impossible to miss; with both initially being made available to fans via an invite-only release model; driving desirability by creating a sense of exclusivity. The difference with the Phone (1)’s release is that Pei has doubled-down on this idea of framing the phone’s release as ‘exclusive’; folding in the auction model that Nothing previously used for its debut product, the Ear (1) true wireless Bluetooth earbuds, as well.
