Nothing co-founder explains what's going on with the new Phone 4b branding

Just days after the London-based tech company sparked widespread speculation by canceling its next highly anticipated CMF budget phone, Nothing officially teased the brand new Nothing 4b. If you’re wondering what the “B” stands for, the company has an official answer: it means nothing.

Nothing co-founder Mr. Akis Evangelidis took to X to share that the “b” stands for nothing, quite literally.

Nothing’s product hierarchy includes the flagship Phone series, followed by the Phone a-series, and now followed up with the Phone b-series. After this, you end up with the CMF Phone lineup.

Evangelidis’s post makes it clear that the Phone b-series is expanding into a new segment while maintaining a clear product hierarchy, indirectly confirming that the upcoming Phone 4b will be cheaper than the current Phone 4a.

CMF’s loss is Nothing’s gain

The sudden birth of the  Phone b-series explains the sudden death of Nothing’s CMF Phone hardware plans, and it aligns quite well with leaks.

Last week, Evangelidis candidly revealed that skyrocketing RAM and storage costs forced the company to cancel the successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro. To launch the device under the CMF banner with its intended specs, the price would have ballooned from its usual sub-$250 sweet spot to roughly Rs 30,000-35,000 (~$317-$370), a price tag that didn’t fit the CMF identity.

Leaks suggested that instead of scrapping the hardware altogether, Nothing pivoted. The canceled CMF project is said to have been folded back into the parent company. By re-badging the tech as the Nothing Phone 4b, the brand can offer an entry-level smartphone under its main line, avoiding the budget pricing expectations of the CMF brand and not wasting an entire generation of product research and development.

Nothing is unlikely to ever confirm the leaks and outright say that the upcoming Phone 4b is just an avatar of the now-dead CMF Phone 3 Pro. Still, this isn’t great news for fans, as what would have been a budget phone has now climbed up the price ladder while seemingly staying the same.

Phones in general have gotten expensive across the board, and will continue to do so in the near future. You can either hold onto your existing phone for longer, or consider a refurbished/pre-owned phone, or swallow the bitter pill and pay the higher price for the same tech.