Photo credit: moneycontrol.comAccording to multiple people familiar with the matter, CMF by Nothing has parted ways with Himanshu Tandon following a review of his role and overall contribution to the business. The account arrives in two parts, and the gap between them is the story.Gadgets Now first learnt of the move nearly two weeks ago. Asked about it then, CMF denied the report outright: the company said Tandon remained in office and offered to arrange a call with him, language that described his position as secure. Fresh conversations with multiple people familiar with the matter have since overtaken that denial. Gadgets Now can independently confirm that Tandon has been asked to leave, bringing his association with the Nothing-led brand to a close.This comes as CMF has decided not to launch a new phone this year owing to the exponential increase in memory prices, which makes it very hard to launch a new phone at its target price point. This is also a lever that resulted in Tandon's exit.The contrast between the early denial and the current confirmation is itself notable. It suggests the matter carried real sensitivity inside the company, and that CMF was unprepared to acknowledge the change when first asked. Nothing has yet issued any statement clarifying the reasons.Multiple people familiar with the matter describe a review of Tandon's role that preceded the exit, along with early friction between him and parts of CMF's leadership. Nothing has kept its reasoning private. Here is what Gadgets Now knows, what remains sourced solely to people familiar with the matter, and what it means for CMF's India-led global ambitions.Key TakeawaysHimanshu Tandon has exited CMF by Nothing, according to multiple people familiar with the matter, after Gadgets Now first flagged the move nearly two weeks ago.CMF denied the report at the time, saying Tandon remained in office and offering to arrange a conversation with him.Gadgets Now can independently confirm that Tandon's association with the brand has ended.Sources describe a leadership review and early tension between Tandon and parts of CMF's leadership, though the precise nature of the friction stays undefined.Tandon joined CMF as VP of Business in August 2025, arriving from Poco India, where he had led the brand since 2022.Weeks before the exit surfaced, CMF shelved a successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro, with co-founder Akis Evangelidis citing memory prices that ruled out a meaningful upgrade at an affordable price.Nothing has kept its reasoning private, leaving the decision behind Tandon's departure unexplained throughout.Who Is Himanshu Tandon?The exit closes a short chapter for someone who arrived at CMF with considerable weight behind him.Tandon spent more than eight years in senior consumer-tech leadership before CMF, according to reporting at the time of his appointment. He was a founding-team member of Poco, Xiaomi's youth-focused sub-brand, and took over as its India head in 2022, steering the brand through a period when Xiaomi's broader India numbers were under pressure. He resigned from Poco in July 2025. Weeks later, Nothing named him Vice President of Business for CMF, a role announced with direct quotes from founder and chief executive Carl Pei, who called Tandon's track record the right fit to carry CMF into its next phase. The brief was global rather than India-only: Tandon was to drive CMF's international strategy and go-to-market execution, with India serving as the hub. On taking the role, Tandon spoke of building CMF into a brand that resonated with Gen Z audiences worldwide. His industry recognition by that point included a Times 40 Under 40 listing, a Tech Personality of the Year award in 2023, and a place on the Economic Times' Most Promising Leaders of Asia list.That appointment closed roughly ten months before the exit Gadgets Now is now reporting - a short run for a role pitched as central to CMF's global build-out.The Reported FrictionMultiple people familiar with the matter also told Gadgets Now that differences between Tandon and sections of CMF's leadership surfaced early in his tenure. The precise nature of those disagreements stays undefined; several sources described the working relationship as strained, and people aware of the internal discussions said the company chose a different direction after reviewing its leadership structure.The sources left the exact tension unspecified, though they suggested the friction had been visible for a while. That detail points toward a broader mismatch rather than a sudden break - the kind of strain that becomes more visible as a young company scales, responsibilities shift, and expectations sharpen. There were also signs in recent months that Tandon's public role had narrowed: rather than speaking directly about Nothing or CMF, he appeared more often with broader industry commentary. That quieter presence, on its own, offered only a hint - but it added to the sense that his position had begun to shift before the exit became clear.Nothing's SilenceAcross this arc, Nothing and CMF have said little. The company's only substantive response remains the initial denial from two weeks ago, when it maintained that Tandon stayed in office and offered a call with him to prove it. Since then, Nothing has kept its reasoning private, leaving the decision behind Tandon's departure unexplained.That silence is doing real work in this story. It leaves the fuller picture to the accounts of people familiar with the matter, who point to both questions about Tandon's contribution and friction within the leadership structure - accounts Gadgets Now has yet to verify beyond the confirmation of the exit itself.What It Means For CMFThe timing gives the exit extra weight. CMF stopped being a mere sub-brand in September 2025, when Nothing spun it off into an independent subsidiary headquartered in India, paired with a manufacturing joint venture with Optiemus Infracom worth more than 100 million US dollars. The plan positioned CMF as India's first globally headquartered smartphone company, with Tandon's global business role sitting near the centre of that ambition.A leadership exit at this stage carries weight beyond one executive's career. CMF has been among the more closely watched parts of Nothing's business, and reporting through 2025 credited it with a large share of the group's growth. Any change at the top of a newly independent company, still building its global operating structure, has implications that reach past Tandon himself.CMF's Next Phone Waits For Next YearWeeks before Tandon's exit surfaced, CMF made a separate, harder call of its own. Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis announced on X around 19 June that the company had built a successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro and then shelved it: the CMF Phone 2 Pro will remain the brand's newest phone through the rest of 2026, with any successor's timing left open.The reason, in Evangelidis's own account, came down to memory prices ruling out "a genuine step forward at a price that makes sense" within CMF's budget positioning. Reporting at the time put the cost of building the same specifications today at somewhere between 318 and 370 US dollars, up from the phone's original 279-dollar starting price - an increase Nothing judged too steep for a brand built on value. Carl Pei has separately said memory now accounts for more than half of a smartphone's hardware bill, and that memory costs for the Nothing Phone 4a doubled between development and launch, then doubled again after.CMF has kept its other 2026 plans in motion: Evangelidis pointed to further products due this year, including entries in categories the brand has yet to enter, and the main Nothing lineup continues on its own schedule.So far as Gadgets Now can establish, the two developments stand apart, marking only the backdrop against which this leadership change lands: a brand cutting its most visible product plan on cost grounds, and a departure at the top of its global business function, arriving within weeks of each other.What Happens NextAttention now turns to succession. CMF's broader strategy looks set to continue on its existing path, but the brand faces the task of deciding who takes over the responsibilities Tandon held and how to structure global business leadership going forward. Whether that means promoting from within or hiring externally remains an open question, and the choice will signal whether CMF wants continuity or a genuine reset at a moment when the brand is still establishing its identity as a standalone company.For now, the exit closes one chapter of CMF's short history as an independent business and opens a new one, at a moment when the brand is trying to deepen its presence in a market it has staked its global headquarters on.FAQs1. Who is Himanshu Tandon?Tandon is a consumer-tech executive who led Poco India, Xiaomi's youth-focused sub-brand, as a founding-team member from 2022 until his resignation in July 2025. He joined CMF by Nothing as Vice President of Business the following month.2. What role did Tandon hold at CMF by Nothing?He was VP of Business, a global role overseeing CMF's international strategy, expansion and go-to-market execution, with India serving as the operational hub for that international push.3. Has Himanshu Tandon left CMF by Nothing?According to multiple people familiar with the matter, yes. Gadgets Now first reported the move nearly two weeks before this confirmation; CMF denied it at the time, and subsequent reporting has since confirmed his association with the brand has ended.4. Why did Himanshu Tandon leave CMF?CMF has kept its explanation private. People familiar with the matter point to a review of his role and contribution, alongside early friction between Tandon and parts of CMF's leadership, though the precise nature of that friction remains unconfirmed.5. Has CMF or Nothing or Carl Pei commented on the exit?The initial denial two weeks before this report remains Nothing's only public word on the matter.6. Is CMF launching a new phone in 2026?CMF's phone lineup stays put this year. Weeks before Tandon's exit surfaced, Nothing co-founder Akis Evangelidis said on X that CMF had built a successor to the CMF Phone 2 Pro and shelved it, citing memory prices that made a genuine upgrade unaffordable at CMF's price point. The CMF Phone 2 Pro remains the brand's newest phone for the rest of the year, though CMF has other products still planned in 2026.7. What is CMF by Nothing?CMF - short for Colour, Material, Finish, an industrial-design term, is a design-led, budget-focused technology brand founded by Nothing in 2023. It became an independent India-headquartered subsidiary in September 2025.8. Who will replace Himanshu Tandon at CMF?CMF has yet to name a successor. The brand now faces the task of deciding whether to promote internally or hire externally for the global business leadership role Tandon held.end of article