Carl Pei Tells Why Nothing Won’t Make A Foldable Phone Anytime Soon

In his candid on-camera review of the Galaxy Z Fold7 on Nothing’s YouTube channel, Carl Pei says foldables cost more to build, are harder to design for, and still sell to a tiny niche—making them would be a bad financial decision for the brand right now. He said, “it would sell almost zero units.”

Nothing loyalists keep asking the same question: will they make a foldable? Carl Pei’s answer is simple—not now. In the video, while trying the Galaxy Z Fold7, the Nothing CEO lays out the math and the mindset behind skipping foldables for the moment. It is small demand, tougher engineering, and margins that don’t add up for a young brand.

Pei calls the foldable market “really small” with around 17 million units sold, against an approximately 1.2 billion-unit smartphone industry. For a new and small company that’s still scaling, that’s a niche within a niche. He said if Nothing shipped a foldable today, it would “sell almost zero units.” Which essentially means even a decent product wouldn’t move enough volume to cover costs, let alone make money.

The unit-economics problem of being smaller

Pei says, "Nothing is 50 to 80 times smaller than everybody else,” which means it can’t buy parts at the prices larger rivals get. That compresses margins. He adds that even with roughly $1 billion in annual revenue this year, Nothing is still loss-making. In that context, every new device must contribute clearly to profitability. A low-volume, high-risk foldable doesn’t meet that bar yet.

Engineering cost is around 2x

Pei estimates the fixed engineering cost for a foldable at about double a regular slab phone. And that’s before you get to software and design. Building for two displays (outer and inner) and the transitions between them “is more than double the work” for UX teams. Early foldable apps were often just stretched phone UIs; things are better now, but the design tax remains.

Supply is easy now; the hard part is consumer need

Foldables, Pei argues, were born as a supply-chain story: panel and hinge tech matured, suppliers pitched it, OEMs jumped. The tougher question is the why: real consumer pain points. For some users, Pei admits, the Z Fold7 can be great—spreadsheets, decks, side-by-side multitasking, and comfy content viewing. But for many, especially gamers, compromises remain (field of view, aspect ratio issues), and the high price pushes it further into specialist tool territory.

Price should be consumer-driven, not cost-driven

Even if R&D is pricier, Pei says that alone shouldn’t justify sky-high pricing. Value has to feel obvious to the buyer. Right now, foldables feel “great for a specific demographic,” not most people. If you need one, the Z Fold7 is among the nicest. If you don’t, a top-end iPhone still undercuts it.

So, will Nothing ever build a foldable?

Never say never—but not soon. For Nothing to bite, two things must change:

• Demand: broader, clearer use-cases that pull mainstream buyers in.
• Economics: better component pricing and volumes that reduce the foldable “tax” on R&D and UX.

Until then, it seems like Nothing will focus on products that can scale, differentiate, and actually help the company turn a profit.