Nokia never released phones in the 4xxx series (4000, 4100, etc.) because the number 4 is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures - it sounds similar to the word for 'death' in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese. While Nokia models like the 3410 and 7650 contained the digit 4 in other positions, the company avoided using 4 as the leading digit until 2019, when they finally released the Nokia 4.2.
Why Nokia Skipped the 4000 Series Phone Models
Walk into any phone museum or browse through Nokia's extensive product history, and you'll notice something peculiar: there's a conspicuous gap in their numbering system. While the Finnish giant released phones in the 1000, 2000, 3000, 5000, 6000, 7000, and even 8000 series, the 4000 series is entirely absent. This wasn't an oversight—it was a deliberate business decision driven by one of Asia's most powerful superstitions.
The number 4 is considered deeply unlucky across East Asian cultures, a phenomenon known as tetraphobia. In Mandarin Chinese, the word for "four" (四, sì) sounds remarkably similar to the word for "death" (死, sǐ). This ominous connection extends to Japanese (shi), Korean (sa), and Vietnamese (tứ), where the phonetic resemblance creates the same unsettling association.
A Business Decision Worth Millions
For Nokia, which dominated the mobile phone market throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Asian markets represented enormous revenue potential. Alienating millions of customers over a number was simply not worth the risk. The company made the strategic choice to skip the entire 4xxx series rather than risk sales in regions where consumers might avoid products with that designation.
But Nokia's avoidance strategy had limits. Models like the iconic Nokia 3410, the 6210, and the 7650 all featured the digit 4—just not as the leading number. The taboo centered specifically on 4 as the primary identifier, the most prominent position in the model name.
Breaking the Curse
In 2019, everything changed. At Mobile World Congress, Nokia announced the Nokia 4.2, marking the first time the company used 4 as the leading designation. By this point, HMD Global had taken over Nokia's phone operations, and the mobile landscape had transformed entirely. Smartphones had replaced feature phones, and Nokia's market position had shifted dramatically.
The decision to finally embrace the number 4 likely reflected changing market dynamics and a different calculus about superstition versus product naming consistency. In the modern smartphone era, where decimal-point numbering (4.2, 5.3, etc.) has become standard, avoiding the digit 4 entirely would have been increasingly awkward.
The Broader Impact of Tetraphobia
Nokia wasn't alone in accommodating this superstition.
- Canon similarly avoided 4-series designations for cameras sold in Asian markets
- Many buildings in East Asia skip the 4th floor entirely, jumping from 3 to 5
- Hospital rooms, apartment numbers, and product serial numbers often omit the digit
- Some airlines avoid having a row 4 or gate 4
Even Nokia's Symbian operating system, used in their Series 60 platform, skipped version 4. This pattern extended back to when Symbian was still called EPOC and owned by Psion—there was no Psion Series 4 either, described as "a polite gesture to Asian customers."
The influence of cultural superstitions on global business decisions reveals how companies must navigate not just technical specifications and market segments, but also the deep-seated beliefs of their customers. For decades, Nokia's missing 4xxx series stood as a testament to the power of tetraphobia—and to the lengths corporations will go to respect local customs in pursuit of market share.