Credit: NothingTL;DRLondon-based Nothing is allegedly exiting 12 markets (including Japan, the Middle East, and parts of Europe), slashing global headcount by 40%, and laying off 30–50% of R&D staff following sharp drops in global shipments.Recent launches show weak momentum with Phone 4b shipping ~20,000 units and Phone 4a/4a Pro totaling 150,000 units, compared to 2 million global units sold in 2025.Skyrocketing RAM and storage costs forced Nothing to cancel the sub-$250 CMF Phone 2 Pro successor, leaving the CMF lineup without a hero product.All is not well with the smartphone world. Rising component prices have wreaked havoc — not only are we seeing higher phone prices across the board, but the resultant economic headwinds are also directly affecting how well companies can survive in the market. The situation is bad enough that OnePlus had to exit the North American and European markets, and it seems even Nothing could exit some European markets.According to a report by Digit, London-based Nothing is allegedly scaling down its global footprint by exiting 12 markets over the next few weeks. This follows a sharp drop in global device shipments, even though the company continued to grow in key regions like India.