Sometimes the mfrs make a line of transistors having very similar characteristics, differing in only a few specific elements, such as Vce, Ic(max), etc. They might have numbered them sequentially, but there is (was) no requirement or guideline to do that. Part numbers are arbitrary in most cases, and have no correlation between manufacturers. If a manufacturer second sources a part, then it's good sense to assign the same or very similar part number, but again, no specific requirement.