We were hoping for a new CMF Phone but now we're getting Nothing

CMF made a big impact in smartphones with the CMF Phone 1 and CMF Phone 2 Pro, but it seems like that's the end of the line for the darling of affordable phones – and it's all down to a familiar problem.

When CMF launched its phones, the general reaction was "how is this so cheap?". Therein lies the problem: the components that Nothing would need for the CMF Phone 3 Pro are no longer cheap.

Rather than remain silent on the issue, both Carl Pei (Nothing CEO) and Akis Evangelidis (Nothing co-founder and president) have both come forward to talk about the problem.

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Posting on X, Akis Evangelidis said in a long post: "We've decided not to launch a new CMF phone this year."

The reason for that comes down to memory prices: "We were working on a successor but with memory prices where they are right now, we can't build a phone that feels like a genuine step forward at a price that makes sense for CMF," he added.

This builds on messaging that we'd previously seen from Carl Pei, who said: "For Phone (4a), memory costs doubled between when we decided to build the device and when it launched. They've doubled again since.

"If you've been waiting to upgrade a device, the best time was yesterday. The next best time is now. This year's sale season won't have the discounts people are used to."

The increase in prices – to sate the appetite of ever growing demands from AI – seems to have claimed its first victim in CMF, with the brand's devices also pulled from the Nothing online store.

But there's a glimmer of hope for affordable devices elsewhere: returning to Akis' message, he says: "Oh and the smartphone launch season at Nothing isn't over yet. More to come. Soon."

Cue a post on Nothing India teasing the Nothing Phone (4b).

As is typical of Nothing, we get to see a pencil sketch of what looks like a new device, with a couple of hints. First, the caption is "(b)usted", while at the end of the clip, the pencils are laid down and the one that's been used is the 4B.

It's hard to imagine it's anything other than the Nothing Phone 4(b). We saw the £349 Nothing Phone (4a) launched in March and it's not instantly clear how the Nothing Phone (4b) fits in.

One of the frames appears to show a round element that could be a single camera, so perhaps this is a way to bring the price down further. Will this undercut the Nothing Phone 3a Lite (which was £249) or will it replace that device's price point?

As the teasing has officially started, we should know soon.