Co-founder of the young Nothing company, Carl Pei, in an interview with Inverse spoke about plans to release the Nothing Phone (2) smartphone later this year, which should be a more premium model and go on sale in the US.

Pei noted that the United States is “our #1 priority in terms of markets” for the Nothing Phone (2), made possible by sales in Europe and Asia of more than $200 million last year, compared to $24 million in 2021. The company claims to have shipped a total of over a million devices so far.

“We couldn’t do it earlier because we were only in our second year and our hands were tied building the team as we were building the products. Now as we’re on a more solid footing, we can take a step forward,” Pei said in an interview. “When you make a smartphone for the U.S. you need to work with the carriers on certification and adapting some of their features into your OS. We didn’t have the resources for that before and now we do.”

As for the Nothing Phone (2) itself, the entrepreneur was careful to describe current model Phone (1) as the “flagship” of the brand, as well as giving its successor a more “premium” status. In addition to adapting to operators’ requirements, Pei is also interested in expanding the company’s capabilities and long-term support.

Speaking of trust in the software, Pei mentions “nearly 100” of the 400 people currently working on the company’s proprietary Nothing OS shell, as well as positive feedback on the Android 13 beta for Phone (1).