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The Nimbus 2000 was fastest broomstick during Harry's first year at Hogwarts and the Nimbus 2001 was fastest in the subsequent year. It's safe to assume that the number in the name represents a year.

Harry used the Nimbus 2000 in 1993 and Malfoy used Nimbus 2001 in 1994. Why weren't they named Nimbus 1993/1994 or Nimbus 93/94?

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    Do wizards use the same calendar and years as muggles? – Xantec Apr 26 '14 at 1:53
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    Model/version numbers are often not just the year they are released. (Though, a discussion regarding whether or not Windows 7 or 8 are steps backwards from Windows 95 may be warranted) – phantom42 Apr 26 '14 at 2:17
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    “It's safe to assume that the number in the name is year.” Is it? Their first three models were the 1000, 1001 and 1500. Fairly sure any company that waiting five centuries between releasing new models would be drummed out of business. – alexwlchan Apr 26 '14 at 2:58
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    @alexwlchan Of course it's not. It's generally not safe to assume anything, even more so when you're going to prove that your assumption is incorrect in the very next sentence. – Anthony Grist Apr 26 '14 at 14:34
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    I think it's relevant to the model itself rather than the year. Maybe the broom makers just thought that Nimbus 2000 sounded cool, and then the 2001 version was just the 2000 with a few upgrades. – Dragona13 Apr 27 '14 at 2:59
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Using huge round numbers is a common everyday marketing tactics.

  • First of all, Nimbus company used the branding strategy like this forever. 2000 wasn't because it was near year 2000; it was because it was after models 1000, 1500 etc...:

    In 1967 the broom world was galvanised by the formation of the Nimbus Racing Broom Company.
    Nothing like the Nimbus 1000 had ever been seen before. ...
    the subsequent models (1001, 1500, and 1700) have kept the Nimbus Racing Broom Company at the top of the field.
    (src: Quidditch Through the Ages Chapter 9)

  • This branding strategy is used because humans like round numbers in product names a lot more because they seem bigger. Witness all the studies on perception of people that something costing $19.93 is a LOT more likely to be bought than same thing costing $20.00 despite miniscule price difference.

    So Nimbus 2000 would seem like much more of an improvement than 1993, never mind Nimbus 93.

  • Another reason it's a good branding strategy is because "2000" is a lot easier to remember than "1993" or "93".

  • For a similar branding strategy in Muggle world, see Blackberries (before Z10)

As a side note, said marketing gimmic was a "recent" invention. Before that:

  • The first known named broomstick was indeed named for the year.

    A case in point is the Oakshaft 79 (so named because the first example was created in 1879). (Src: QTTA, Ch 9)

  • The year numbering wasn't lost since then:

    The Twigger 90, first produced in 1990, was intended by its manufacturers Flyte and Barker to replace the Nimbus as market leader...

  • Comet used internal test model count for their brand (Comet 140 was 140th model tested).

  • Cleansweep counted 1, 2, etc...

  • A vast majority of other brooms didn't even use numbers (Moontrimmer, Silver Arrow, Tinderblast, Swiftstick, Shooting Star, Firebolt

  • Another company used OnePlus One

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    2001 doesn't look like rounded number, but I can't find a better answer than this. – Baby Yoda Apr 26 '14 at 8:49
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    @SachinShekhar 2001 isn't a round number, but it's an X+1. It communicates "Just like X, only a little better". Very common for products that are minor improvements. – Avner Shahar-Kashtan Apr 26 '14 at 8:57
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    @SachinShekhar - they had 1000 and 1001 before. – DVK-on-Ahch-To Apr 26 '14 at 12:34
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    Since I have no proof that this was not only a local thing here, this is a comment, not an answer: in the nineties, it was a small phenomenon to name things or places ‘X 2000’ to make it sound futuristic and awesome, and ‘X 2001’ to make it sound even more futuristic and awesome. When reading HP back then, I immediately accepted Nimbus 2000 as the same pattern. Of course, 2001 came and went, and all the places and products left now with 2000 or 2001 in their name now sound outdated and lame... – Philipp Flenker Oct 8 '17 at 6:19
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    @ChristieRomanowski In our world, it isn't unknown for a company to use a "round number" in a model name and then just increment that number in the next model. IBM named their first all-purpose computer the "IBM 360" which was supposed to recall 360 degrees implying an all-round computer. The next model was called the "IBM 370". – Blackwood Oct 12 '17 at 12:13
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The number 2000 and 2001 are model numbers like F-15 and F-16 models. This has basis "in-universe" because I base answer one "model" on the "in universe" idea that in the video the number is "printed on the broom" the way the name of a model-number indicating it is a model number whereas year is not printed on a car, this number on the broom indicating it is not a year but a model. As you said the numbers do not match the year because they were used in 1991 [before Christmas of 1991 < 2000 by 9] so it cannot be the year number. I agree with the asker and christie that the number 2001 refutes the idea of a round number. Another answer is that our counting 2017 is "known to be wrong" by at least four years because Jesus' birth was in the reign of a king who died in 4 B.C. Therefore the year 2001 counts from the true year in the reign of that king correcting our counting by the nine 9 year difference. this means ten BC the idea in the second answer "ten bc" is based only on the in-universe fact that the book tells the story about 1992 indicating a ten year gap if it would mean a year. i suggest the ten year gap is because they knew the true year when jesus was born but only based on the "gap" mentioned. 1992-2001=ten BC the starting point of the year count from christ- another hint is they celebrated christmas- but that is only a clue.

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    I'm struggling to see what your answer to the question is here. That the Nimbus broom company named it 'Nimbus 2001' because of dating confusion around the birth of Jesus and the Gregorian calendar? – The Dark Lord Oct 8 '17 at 15:55
  • no. please focus on the first line of the answer. The second answer is not "because of dating confusion" but the opposite because of certainty that the year number is different it suggests that the wizarding world counted from the birth of jesus which they believed was in 8/9 bc during king Herod, so 2001 was the year in the wizarding world which we call 1992. – tal Oct 12 '17 at 11:13
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    @tal Do you have any references or evidence from the books that would corroborate this? – ench Oct 12 '17 at 19:11
  • ench admittedly this idea in my two answers is not clearly stated in the books I read, yet have basis. I base answer one "model" on the "in universe" idea that in the video the number is "printed on the broom" the way the name of a model-number indicating it is a model number whereas year is not printed on the car, this number on the broom indicating it is not a year but a model. the idea in the second answer "ten bc" continued below – tal Oct 13 '17 at 17:34
  • the idea in the second answer "ten bc" is based only on the in-universe fact that the book tells the story about 1992 indicating a ten year gap if it would mean a year. i suggest the ten year gap is because they knew the true year when jesus was born but only based on the "gap" mentioned. 1992-2001=ten BC the starting point of the year count from christ- another hint is they celebrated christmas- but that is only a clue. – tal Oct 13 '17 at 17:35

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