Is "4" Unlucky Number for Nokia?
Trends September 27th. 2006, 11:55pmNokia has just announced two new devices from their N-Series family, i.e. Nokia N75 and N95. They are absolutely very cool devices. They are marketed as multimedia computers, no longer as smart phones or mobile phones.
Anyway, there was a question that pop up in my mind, why the numbering jumps from N73 to N75 and from N93 to N95. Where are N74 and N94?
Is “4″ unlucky number for Nokia? Honestly, I don’t have the answer. What I do know, “4″ is not a good number in Chinese tradition. Why? Because it is pronounced as “shi”, very similar to “death”.
Back to the original question, why there is no N74 and N94? If we look at Nokia’s numbering system, they very rarely use “4″. They have 1xxx, 2xxx, 3xxx, 5xxx, 6xxx, 7xxxx, 8xxx and even 9xxx. Where are 4xxx?
Well… as Shakespeare said, “What is in a name?”
15 Responses to “Is "4" Unlucky Number for Nokia?”
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September 28th, 2006 at 5:40 am
Yep, the 4 is not used because of negative connotations in the East. I remember reading this from somewhere lately, but cannot give you any links
September 28th, 2006 at 6:42 am
Here: http://mobileopportunity.blogspot.com/2006/09/good-luck-naming-your-phones-nokia.html
“In Japan and China, the word for “4″ sounds a lot like the word for “death,” so you can’t use that (supposedly, the fear is so strong that the death rate in Asia is higher on days that have a four in them). Is it the fear that’s killing people, or does the number itself do them in? Hard to say for sure. If you check out Nokia’s product list you’ll see that the company is very aware of these issues – there is no four series, there are no products with three sixes in the name, and I could find no 13s at all.”
At least a great conspiracy theory
September 28th, 2006 at 6:57 am
Hi Anthony,
It is simply because the digit 4 is considered unlucky in many parts of Southeast/East Asia.
September 28th, 2006 at 11:38 am
Yes, big commercial companies are very carefull with local
traditions. About 15 years ago Nokia made a terrible mistake
when they advertised a phone, that was kept on the “wrong” hand.
September 28th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
[…] No i jeszcze ciekawostka… Antony Pranata zauwa?y?, ?e Nokia co? podejrzanie nie lubi cyfry “4″ Ciekawe dlaczego? hehe […]
September 28th, 2006 at 9:06 pm
@turnabull: Very interesting. What do you mean by the “wrong” hand?
September 29th, 2006 at 10:21 am
Antony,
in some countries left hand is considered “unclean”.
Anyway, this is not phone technology discussion, so let’s put end for my idiom.
October 6th, 2006 at 2:43 am
Same for Palm - Palm III, then Palm V.
November 11th, 2006 at 9:54 am
Hey Antony,
I didn’t realize that you had conquered this question, but thanks to one of my readers I ended up here for the answer.
November 11th, 2006 at 9:55 am
What Happened to the Nx4?
Did you notice that the Nseries went from N71 - N75 without having an N74? Also the N91 - N95 and no N94? Lol, its 6:30 am on Saturday morning and I haven’t had coffee… but it made me wonder,
November 11th, 2006 at 9:59 am
@Darla: Yes, I had the same concern too, why they don’t have Nokia Nx4.
November 12th, 2006 at 10:09 pm
Actually, contrary to what Tommi said, Nokia did in fact have a 4xxx series back in 1993. The model was the p4000.
December 12th, 2006 at 11:49 pm
[…] Notice that they don’t have Nokia 4xxx, the same happens to Nokia N-Series. Read my other blog too, Is “4″ Unlucky Number for Nokia? […]
February 13th, 2007 at 5:10 am
Hi readers my name is Basit and you people are saying that four is unlucky. Dont think that i dont believe in traditions. I respect traditions whole heartedly but in this world everything is created by GOD\’s will so Nokia (connecting people) can make N74 & N75 and by the grace of GOD nothing will happen to Nokia neither people working in Nokia and people using Nokia…..
July 29th, 2007 at 2:10 pm
why are people so superstitious?