Currently, public sub counts are abbreviated in most but not all places across YouTube. In August, we’ll make this more consistent by always showing abbreviated sub counts publicly. Creators: You’ll still see your full sub count in Studio! Learn more → http://yt.be/help/abbrev-count …pic.twitter.com/pmaKk4EU4k
And what about those channels with 10k or less? Do you really think having a "10k subs" looks nice? Imagine finally getting 1000 and then it becomes only a 1 with a "k" on the side, that looks kinda depressing.