Nothing will be challenger brand in India, focus on differentiated design, says co

London-based consumer tech venture, Nothing will be a ''challenger brand'' in the Indian market with its differentiated design and focus on product experience as it looks to bring in an ecosystem of connected products, a top company official said.

Nothing, which has been founded by OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, on Tuesday unveiled its maiden product - true wireless earbuds ear (1) - that will be available in India from August 17 and will be priced at Rs 5,999.

Speaking to PTI, Nothing India Vice President and General Manager Manu Sharma said the starting point for Nothing was different.

''When we started building this product, we didn't put a spec in our head, we didn't put a price on it. We said our first product will be and every product, as we move forward, will focus on a great experience. We looked at all the kinds of pain points, what were the drivers for consumers, the design was a big gap,'' he said.

Sharma noted that the latest product will address the requirements of consumers who are tech enthusiasts and love to get hold of the latest technology, as well as those who love great designs.

''We are addressing the challenge around OS compatibility, we have a beautiful looking design. We will also address challenges around the quality of sound, especially voice. Ear (1) is a very well-rounded product and it will give a great experience and we are fairly confident that we will really address the market very well,'' he said.

Asked about the next lineup of products, Sharma said the company wants to continually bring products across various categories.

While he did not share details of the future products, he said the company will introduce a bunch of products in various categories beyond audio in the near term.

''We want the interaction of consumers with our product to be frictionless. We want to bring essential technology, and to have a certain buildup of human warmth in the design in terms of how one feels when they pick the product. We don't want to be in a specification race,'' he said.

He further stated that Nothing will be a ''challenger brand''.

''I would say that we are going to be a challenger brand because we're going to challenge the approach to design, which has been totally ignored. We will look at 'simplicity', which has been ignored for consumer experience. So we will shake up the industry as we move forward. And because of that, we are confident that we will have a huge impact in the market,'' Sharma added.

The London-based company - which is backed by Indian entrepreneur Kunal Shah - has partnered with Walmart-owned Flipkart for its foray into the Indian market.

Speaking at the virtual launch event, Nothing co-founder Carl Pei said while a number of products are already available in the market, they look very similar and have features that are often included for marketing.

''The industry has changed and hopefully we can be part of fixing some of these things...it (investment from GV, Tony Fadell, and others) was a testament that we were on the right path,'' he added.

Pei said the company's ''seamless digital future'' vision is representative of technology being so well connected and integrated that it doesn't feel like a burden, fades back into the background, and ''it becomes a feeling of nothing''.

Nothing has raised USD 22 million from a clutch of investors, including GV (formerly Google Ventures), Casey Neistat (YouTube personality and Beme co-founder), Twitch co-founder Kevin Lin and Reddit Chief Executive Officer Steve Huffman.

In India, the wearables market posted 144.3 per cent year-on-year growth in 2020, exiting 2020 with 36.4 million unit shipments. The earwear category accounted for 83.6 per cent of the overall wearable market share with 30.4 million unit shipments in 2020.

Earwear device shipments grew more than three-fold in 2020 compared to the previous year, mainly driven by the affordable launches, and expanding use cases beyond entertainment like virtual meetings and e-learning requirements.

Truly Wireless Stereo (TWS) devices were the top gainer seeing a 10-fold increase with shipments totaling 11.3 million units in 2020, as per IDC.

The Ear (1) is said to offer up to 34 hours of playtime with the case, and each earbud weighs in at 4.7 grams. Additional features include Find My Earbud, EQ, Active Noise Cancellation, and Gesture Control customisation via the ear (1) app as well as In-Ear Detection and Fast Pairing. The device is also sweat and water splash resistant.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)