The RAM crisis just killed Nothing’s next budget phone — CMF Phone 3 Pro scrapped as co-founder says ‘we can't build a phone that feels like a genuine step forward’

CMF Phone 2 Pro in light green showing back with exposed screws and cameras.

• A Nothing exec has announced that there won't be a new CMF phone this year
• They say the ongoing RAM crisis is to blame
• There will, however, be other CMF products and other Nothing phones

The CMF Phone 2 Pro from Nothing combined distinctive looks with a bargain price when it launched last year, but if you’ve been hoping for a CMF Phone 3 Pro this year, you’re out of luck, as the company has just confirmed that no new models are coming.

Posting on X, Nothing’s co-founder Akis Evangelidis claimed that while the company was previously working on a successor, “with memory prices where they are right now, we can't build a phone that feels like a genuine step forward at a price that makes sense for CMF.”

As a result, there won’t be a new CMF phone this year — though he added that other new CMF products are still planned, including “entirely new categories,” and also that there will be new phones from Nothing, just without CMF branding, meaning they’ll presumably be pricier models.

A lot of you have been asking when the next CMF phone is coming and as always we'd rather be transparent.CMF Phone 2 Pro was a product we were incredibly proud of. It even won Budget Phone of the Year from MKBHD and the response from all of you made it even more special.We…June 19, 2026

An unsurprising development

This news isn’t entirely surprising, and indeed not long ago, Counterpoint predicted that low-end phones could face a “permanent removal” in some markets.

This is all thanks to rising RAM costs, with AI data centers demanding huge quantities of the stuff, therefore leading to shortages and skyrocketing prices. This, in turn, makes it increasingly hard for companies to make cheap phones.

For now, Nothing has only announced that we won’t see a new CMF phone this year, but the company will likely be facing the same issues next year too, so don’t be surprised if it’s a long time before we see another CMF handset.

So, if you’re hoping to upgrade your phone any time soon, you might have to be prepared to spend a bit more — and to look at more premium ranges like the standard Nothing line.