iPhones are some of the most popular phone brands on the planet, and people like them more and more with each upgrade.
Each upgrade comes with a few exciting features that ensure the iPhones maintain relevance and grow even more common.
iPhones used to change with the number, from iPhone 5, the upgrade was iPhone 6, which went on until iPhone 8. Most people expected the next phone to be iPhone 9, but this was not the case.
Apple jumped from iPhone 9, stopped naming their phones using numbers, and went to iPhone X. Let us look at the details and see what caused this change;
Why Did iPhone Skip 9?
Apple is a multinational company, so it has to consider all the beliefs of its customers and users, same as other companies. A company having a product that offends or goes against the traditions of some of your customers can lead you to an economic mess.
Many cultures look at nine as an unlucky number with several negative symbolism, so they do not appreciate it. In the US, many people consider 9 to be an unlucky number.
The number 9 has negative meanings in most Asian languages. In Chinese, it means a curse, and it symbolizes pain or torture in Japanese. Therefore, it would seem insensitive for Apple to name its product negatively to its users.
This would not have been a sound move since countries like Japan and China have large populations, making up a significant percentage of iPhone users. It, therefore, makes sense to make them feel like they matter to manufacturers.
It is for the same reason that Microsoft did not launch Windows 9. Instead, they went from 8 to 10, then 11.
Cultural sensibility is something all manufacturers have to look into when processing their products; hence 9 and 13 are generally not used by manufacturers.
Another reason for skipping iPhones9 is the time Apple unveiled it. It would have been strange to reveal an iPhone 9 during Apple’s 10th anniversary, so they named it iPhone X instead.
The change in naming their products was a symbol of change in the design of the iPhones. Any iPhone user knows about the design difference between the iPhones in the X series and the previous versions.
The build of the phone and most software features are different. Therefore the company had to name the phone differently.
It was symbolic of a new line of products that would be better than the last, hence named to connect with the users.
Conclusion
iPhone and many other manufacturers avoid using 9 and 13 because of their significance to most cultures. Asian countries like Japan and China look at 9 negatively, so using it might turn them away from a company’s products which will not be suitable for sales.
