Sony Stock Crashes Amid PlayStation 4 Announcement, Unlucky Number 4 To Blame

Logic would dictate that Sony's biggest announcement to date—the PlayStation 4—would be welcomed by the market and give the company's stock a huge boost.

Contrary to expectations, the announcement caused Sony's stock on the Japanese stock market to plummet from a high of 1375 to 1337. The number may be spell 'elite' in l33tspeak, but it's going to make investors far from happy, and it's a number that continues to go down.

The drop of Sony's stock coincides with the company's announcement and reveal of their next-generation console, the PlayStation 4.

At this point, many in the West would speculate that the company's investors may have been hoping for something beyond PS4, or that perhaps they don't believe the market is ready for a next-generation console, or perhaps even because they did not announce a price point for the device. However, I do not believe any of this to be the case.

Outside of the information we know, it is a little known fact that the number 4 is considered cursed in the Far East. It's considered an unlucky number in Chinese because it's pronounced almost exactly like the word "death". As a result, many tech companies eschew any product lineups with the number 4. Despite its location in East Asia, Sony doesn't appear to have gotten the memo and announced a new PlayStation console with the number, essentially cursing it to an early grave, at least in the minds of investors.

So if you're wondering why Sony's stock dropped when it announced the PlayStation 4, it's because they've essentially turned their would-be demise into a self-fulfilling prophecy with the number.

Be sure to read this post for our full coverage of the PlayStation 4.