It was previously reported that aespa’s album sales were on the decline. An online community post compiled their album sales numbers over the years. It was reazlied that My World sold more than 1.37 million copies on the first day while aespa’s newest album, Armageddon, only sold around 515,000 copies in comparison. The numbers dropped by more than half!
Korean Netizens Stunned By aespa’s Shockingly Low Album Sales For “Armageddon”
It seems like aespa is not the only group that has seen a drop in sales.
According to a graph uploaded, ETA sold around 1,194,600 copies on the first day, later climbing to around 1,650,100 by the end of the first week. In comparison, How Sweet sold around 811,800 on the first day. They are currently around 844,200 copies on the 5th day of sales. Compared to aespa, the drop is not as drastic, although still present.
What could be the reason for the drop in sales? Fans have called out dirty play. They accuse HYBE of delaying shipping for the albums in order to impede chart numbers.
Anyone who purchased from Weverse, have you received a shipping label? pic.twitter.com/rUIJWwPgxZ
— Cake🍀 (@CakeDegg) May 28, 2024
They claim that although the albums were pre-ordered, and the actual drop was on May 24, 2024, shipping labels for orders made through Weverse Shop has yet to be generated. On the other hand, fans who have made orders through other retailers have already begun to receive their albums.
They haven’t shipped mine yet. pic.twitter.com/iEvW5lXF6Q
— 1tokki🫧 (@juantokki) May 28, 2024
Some wonder why only domestic orders in South Korea were delayed, while Japan Weverse consumers have already received their packages.
my pre-order album just arrived today Haha i dont know why it delay delivery(domestic)
(fyi ③ japan store is always faster than korea store) pic.twitter.com/w7VRk5tXyS
— リサ (@aidorudaisuki) May 28, 2024
Bunnies continue to call out HYBE, accusing them of sabotage.
njs is being sabotaged in so many ways, feels like spotify is also being sabotaged in ways im not sure, but the huge increase on apple music chart and the relatively low streams on spotify are not matching https://t.co/fh7d8ynZya
— s (@_ssnnwkr) May 28, 2024
Fans’ claims remain unverified. Most of the time, pre-ordered albums count towards the charts from the moment they are purchased, not delivered. However, a slow delay may cause a lag in hype surrounding the album, disappointing casuals who are interested in the physical CD set.
Source: theqoo
