But why? Isn’t the Phone 2 available in the US?
There’s a reason for the Phone (2a)’s absence, despite the fact that its “premium-er” sibling, the Nothing Phone (2), is available in the Land of the Free and the Brave.
Android Central has the answer from Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis who says that it isn’t the “right time to go all-in” in the U.S. just yet:
We’re still just a three-year-old brand, so we have to be strategic about our efforts. While we need to maintain a level of presence in the U.S., it isn’t the right time to go all-in just yet, considering the size of the market.
In contrast, the Ear 1 and Ear 2 (Nothing’s earbuds) are selling well in the US. Phones, however, are different, because of… carriers.
Evangelidis highlights that Nothing isn’t “in a rush” and that it is looking to secure the right carrier partnership before making a full-fledged debut in the country:
The unlocked market is quite limited, so there’s only so much you can do as a standalone brand. We need to find the right partner that understands our strategy and believes in the brand. You can only enter the market once, and we want to get that right — we’re not in a rush.
The difference between the Phone (2) and the Phone (2a)’s presence in the US is that, per Evangelidis’ words, the Phone (2) was aimed at early adopters, so it was a straightforward decision to sell it directly through their site. The Phone (2a), in contrast, is intended as a mass-market device – this is where things get complicated, and the brand needs a carrier partnership.
Once upon a time, when Evangelidis and Carl Pei were at OnePlus, the Chinese brand teamed up with T-Mobile to launch the OnePlus 6T in the US. This turned sour because T-Mobile wanted phones to be available for at least 12 months after launch, and OnePlus would only sell its devices for six months — this was during the T series refresh…
