Nothing cancels CMF Phone 2 Pro successor as memory costs soar

Nothing has shelved a planned follow-up to the CMF Phone 2 Pro, a sign that soaring memory prices are now reshaping what can survive in the budget smartphone market. Akis Evangelidis said the company had been working on a successor but would not launch one in 2026 because it could not deliver a meaningful upgrade at a price that still made sense for CMF.

The decision removes one of Nothing’s most visible low-cost bets from the pipeline after the CMF Phone 2 Pro quickly became a standout in the category. It launched on April 28, 2025, alongside CMF Buds 2, Buds 2 Plus and Buds 2a, and Nothing promoted it as the slimmest and lightest smartphone it had designed to date. The phone paired a 6.77-inch AMOLED display with a 50MP main camera, a 50MP telephoto lens and a 5000mAh battery, while Nothing promised 3 years of major Android updates and 6 years of security patches. In India, pricing started at Rs 18,999 for the 8GB plus 128GB model and Rs 20,999 for the 8GB plus 256GB version.

The CMF Phone 2 Pro also carried unusual credibility for a budget handset. It won MKBHD’s Budget Phone of the Year award, reflecting how strongly it landed with buyers looking for premium features without a premium price. That success makes the absence of a 2026 successor more than a routine product pause. It is a warning that the economics of low-cost phones are getting harder to sustain.

Carl Pei has said RAM and storage can account for more than half of a phone’s bill of materials, and Nothing has described memory as the most expensive component in its current cost structure. Pei also said the company’s memory costs doubled between the time a device was planned and when it launched, then doubled again after launch. That kind of volatility leaves little room for budget brands to add better cameras, larger batteries or faster chips without raising retail prices.

The pressure is not isolated to Nothing. AI data-center demand is absorbing more DRAM capacity, pushing up memory prices across the industry and tightening supply for consumer devices. For smartphone makers, the result is predictable: fewer low-cost options, delayed launches and more products forced into compromise. Nothing’s canceled CMF follow-up shows how sharply that squeeze is hitting the bottom end of the market in 2026.