What do you do when the world’s greatest tech brand steals your precious talent from your budding tech firm? You take a jibe at its CEO, as far as Nothing’s CEO Carl Pei’s latest social media stunt is to be considered.
It all started with a tweet from the former Nothing Software Creative Director, Mladen M Hoyss, announcing his big career move to Apple. The Berlin-based software designer has earned a reputation in the industry over the last few years for shaping Nothing’s software design ethos and establishing the upstart brand in a world dominated by giants like Apple, Samsung, OnePlus, Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi.
While the move to Apple was certainly a moment to be cherished for Hoyss, the same could not be said for Nothing CEO Carl Pei. In what seemed like a cheeky way to use this opportunity to draw limelight on his firm’s achievements, Carl Pei took a dig at Apple’s Tim Cook on a post on X (erstwhile Twitter).
Nothing CEO asks Apple counterpart if he needs more help!
In response to the tweet from Hoyss, which stated, “New beginning @Apple” followed by the iconic Apple logo, Carl Pei responded with the following message:
“Congrats dude, proud of you! @Tim_cook let me know if you need any more product help.”
Eh? Or Ouch?
For those yet to figure out the hidden message, it seems that Carl Pei cleverly hints at the greatness of his team’s talent and branding Nothing as the firm that only attracts top recruiters. Carl quietly signalled to Apple and the rest of the world that Apple had to rely on talent from Nothing to carry on work on its future projects. Hoyss, who has also updated his bio to include the phrase “Apple Design Team”, played an instrumental role in developing Nothing OS’ design language.
Does that hint at Apple seeking a minimalist and flat design language for the future versions of iOS, iPadOS, macOS and visionOS? That’s something we will need to wait for. Rumours have it that Apple has been seeking new design directions for iOS and the rest of the its software ecosystem. The upcoming iOS 19 update, which is expected to be revealed at the WWDC 2025, is rumoured to get more visual cues from visionOS.
What does Nothing’s future hold now?
As a design-first tech firm, Nothing isn’t stopping anytime soon. Prior to Apple’s WWDC date announcement, Nothing took the opportunity to confirm the Phone (3) slated for a July release. No specifications or design teasers yet but we can expect Nothing to take a no-holds approach for its new flagship smartphone.