Nothing appears to be preparing a new budget smartphone, with its latest teaser strongly pointing to the launch of a Nothing Phone (4b).

The company has begun teasing “(b)” branding across social media, shortly after confirming it would not release a new CMF phone this year.

The teaser comes after Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis said the company had scrapped plans for a successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro, citing rising memory and RAM costs.

A video posted by Nothing India on X shows a hand-drawn sketch of a smartphone, followed by a row of pencils where a 4B pencil is clearly highlighted. The post was captioned “(b)usted,” further fuelling speculation the device will be called the Phone (4b).

The sketch suggests the handset will carry Nothing’s familiar transparent rear design, but with a single rear camera, indicating it could be positioned as a lower-cost model beneath the Phone (4a) range.

CDN media

A Flipkart microsite has also gone live in India, continuing the “(b)” teaser campaign, although Nothing has not yet confirmed specifications, pricing or launch timing.

According to Evangelidis, launching a CMF Phone 2 Pro with its planned specifications would have pushed pricing to around Rs. 30,000 to Rs. 35,000, or approximately A$453 to A$529, well above the segment CMF targets.

Nothing has previously positioned CMF as its more affordable sub-brand, but reports suggest some CMF phone projects may have been shifted under the main Nothing brand.

If accurate, the Phone (4b) could be one of those devices, effectively replacing a planned CMF handset with a cheaper entry in the core Nothing Phone lineup.

Nothing’s naming structure also suggests the “b” model could sit below the “a” series, while flagship Nothing phones retain a number-only name.

For now, the Phone (4b) remains unconfirmed, but the 4B pencil clue, single-camera sketch and budget timing suggest Nothing is preparing to expand its smartphone range at the more affordable end of the market.