Nothing CEO Carl Pei says Apple is no longer creative, its products don't inspire him like they used to do

India Today

5 days ago

Carl Pei, co-founder and CEO of London-based tech company Nothing, has criticised Apple's current approach to innovation, saying the company that once inspired him no longer holds the same creative spark. In a recent interview with Wired, Pei reflected on what drove him into the tech industry and expressed disappointment at how the iPhone maker has evolved over the years. While praising Apple's early innovations like the iPod and the first iPhone, he believes the brand has now become 'very big and very corporate,' and that today's Apple 'is no longer inspirational for the younger generation.'advertisement'Personally, I was very inspired by Apple when I was younger — the first iPod, the first iPhone — that's the reason I'm in this industry. But now the creative companies of the past have become very big and very corporate, and they're no longer very creative', Pei told Wired.Pei specifically criticised Apple's AI strategy, particularly the rollout of Apple Intelligence in 2024. While Apple made bold claims around its potential to redefine the smartphone experience, Pei feels the results have fallen short. 'Last year, they told a very big story about Apple Intelligence. Now, a year later, it's not much more than some generated emojis. So it's made consumers very sceptical,' he said.
Although critical of Apple, Pei is optimistic about how AI will influence the future of smartphones. Rather than rushing features to market, he believes the focus should be on solving actual user problems. For him, AI should quietly power better products, not act as a buzzword to impress investors or media. 'We want the product to be the story,' he added.advertisementPei envisions a major shift in how people will use smartphones in the next decade. Instead of multiple apps, he sees a future where the operating system itself becomes the only app — an intelligent layer that understands the user deeply and takes proactive action. 'The system knows your situation, time, place, and schedule, and it suggests what you should do,' he explained. 'So it will be agentic and automated and proactive.'He admits this vision won't happen overnight. 'At this point, if we said, 'We have eliminated apps from smartphones,' no one would buy it,' Pei said. Instead, he sees this evolution playing out gradually over the next seven to ten years, with user trust and comfort being the key drivers.As the industry works out how best to bring AI into everyday devices, Pei believes smaller companies like Nothing have an advantage when it comes to taking creative risks. 'We have to be — if we don't have industrial scale, we need creativity to remain competitive in this industry.' The company recently launched the Nothing Phone 3a series and continues to build out its ecosystem through its affordable sub-brand (CMF) and audio products.