Nothing CEO says his smartphone startup is targeting Gen Z to break into a market dominated by Apple and Samsung

• Nothing CEO Carl Pei said his smartphone startup is targeting young consumers.
• He said younger users are less taken by Apple because they didn't grow up watching it rise.
• The new smartphone maker has made inroads and is now valued at $1.3 billion.

The smartphone industry is a hard one for newcomers to break into. It's littered with failed attempts.

But Carl Pei, the CEO of Nothing, a smartphone startup now valued at $1.3 billion, thinks he may have found a way in.

"Our users are very young," Pei said on Alex Heath's Access podcast this week. "It's pretty much impossible to be popular among everybody in the world at the very beginning, so we got to pick a lane."

Pei said the company has found that its products resonate best with younger consumers who are motivated by a desire to "be different" and find their "own identity" in the devices they choose.

Apple's brand power is as strong as it once was among younger generations, he said, because they didn't grow up watching its rise.

Pei said his company's average user is 26 years old. Meanwhile, for example, Samsung users are, on average, 45 years old, he said. For Apple, about 70% of its users fall between the ages of 18 to 44, according to 9 to 5 Mac, a news site that covers Apple products.

As of the first quarter of 2025, Samsung took the lead in the global smartphone market, with Apple coming in a close second. They are the top two, followed by a handful of Chinese companies.

Nothing, meanwhile, is carving a niche of its own. The five-year-old company now has between 800 and 900 employees and is on track to earn $1 billion in sales this year, Pei said.

Nothing's smartphone models, like Phone 2 and Phone 3, range in price from less than $300 to $700. The phones have a similar structure and design to the iPhone, except for a clear back that exposes some of their internal hardware. In Business Insider's review of the Phone 2, Antonio Villas-Boas called the design "striking" with a "surprisingly good camera" and offers solid performance despite its slightly older processor.

Pei doesn't expect Nothing to outpace Apple anytime soon. He says pacing is important and is thinking about how the two companies can coexist.

He said Nothing is exploring "new form factors" that don't compete with Apple's products, but can be used in conjunction with them. In addition to phones, the company currently offers watches, headphones, and apparel.

Nothing did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.