Reports Say ‘How Sweet’ First-Week Album Sales “Halved”

Girl group NewJeans (Minji, Hanni, Danielle, Haerin, Hyein) saw their first-week album sales (album sales during the first week after release, based on Hanteo Chart) cut in half compared to their previous release. While some had predicted they would achieve ‘million seller’ status on first-week sales alone this time as well, the results showed a noticeable decline in sales.

With NewJeans’ new album’s first-week sales stopping at around 880,000 copies, some are raising concerns that the prolonged management dispute may have caused fandom fragmentation, contributing to the decline in album sales. An industry insider said, “The mudslinging from HYBE’s internal conflict may have weakened fandom cohesion, but since the album market is going through a transitional period, it’s difficult to pinpoint a specific cause for the sales decline yet. We’ll need to monitor the cumulative sales trend further.” NewJeans continues to sail smoothly in the digital charts. With “How Sweet” and “Bubble Gum,” NewJeans continues their popularity streak, ranking 2nd and 3rd respectively on major charts including Melon, Bugs, and FLO. On the 21st, they will release their Japanese debut single “Supernatural.”