Following Nothing’s announcement of its Nothing Phone (1);

Ardit Ballhysa, Technology Analyst at GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company, offers his view:

“The Nothing Phone (1) offers standard specs and features and differentiates itself via the ‘glyph’ interface on the back slab of the phone. This interface features a series of LED lights that can be programed by the user to serve as a visual notification center.

“The glyph, however, is more of a gimmick than a feature most consumers will want to use. The purpose of the glyph is to notify the user in a discreet fashion, but there is nothing discreet about a series of flashing LED lights.

“Nothing’s smartphone may pose a threat to other smaller OEMs with mid-range smartphones but will struggle to take market share from bigger players in the same category, such as Apple, Samsung, and Xiaomi. Furthermore, as Nothing only offers one other product, its Nothing Ear (1) wireless earbuds, consumers could be incentivized to purchase an Apple, Samsung, or Xiaomi mid-range smartphone that offers integration into their respective ecosystem of products and services, for roughly the same price.

“Nothing could also face headwinds with carrier sales as carriers will continue to push bigger brands’ smartphones with device bundling to encourage customers to purchase multiple products and services.”