Per the response from Nothing quoted in the article, that’s what happened:
Akis mentions that companies have to submit demo units with placeholder content about four months before the phone’s launch so that they can be tested and “implemented” before mass production. Once the phone enters mass production, companies usually swap out placeholder content (including stock images) with proper product renders and actual photo samples.
I wonder if these were just placeholder images put in by the UI designers that no one remembered to replace with real photos
Per the response from Nothing quoted in the article, that’s what happened: