On Tuesday, Jan. 19, Southeast Asia and Taiwan's largest e-commerce platform Shopee announced the major K-Keywords that captivated the Southeast Asian market last year, 2020. One of the words so happens to be K-pop! Keep on reading to see which K-pop products were the most popular.
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The places where K-pop products are most popular in Southeast Asia are Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines. The most popular product among consumers is actually NCT 2020's "Resonance Pt. 1" album! The album was released on Oct. 12, 2020, and features all 21 members from the current NCT units - NCT U, NCT 127, NCT Dream, and WayV, as well as the debut of two new NCT members, Shotaro and Sungchan.
The album was a commercial success, becoming NCT's first number-one album on the Gaon Album Chart. Prior to the album's release, it was announced that the album had garnered over 1.12 million pre-orders, making it NCT's first million-selling album. On Nov. 5, 2020, SM Entertainment announced that the album had sold 1,428,765 copies, making it a new personal best for the group. In Japan, the album peaked at number two on the Oricon Albums Chart.
The second most popular product on the platform is BLACKPINK's albums, including their mini-albums and their full-length album. BLACKPINK released their first full-length album, "THE ALBUM", on Oct. 2, 2020. The album showcases the group's more mature side, singing about themes of love and the complexities of growing up.
On Sept. 4, 2020, YG Entertainment announced that "THE ALBUM" surpassed 800,000 pre-orders and by Oct. 2, "THE ALBUM" surpassed one million pre-orders, with 670,000 copies of it being sold in South Korea and 340,000 of it coming from the U.S. and Europe. Additionally, a vinyl limited to 18,888 copies were sold out within days.
On Oct. 25, 2020, it was announced that BLACKPINK had sold 1.2 million physical copies of the albums worldwide, making BLACKPINK the fifth album by a Korean female artist to sell more than one million copies, breaking S.E.S's 21-year-old record of best-selling girl group album in South Korea. "THE ALBUM" is currently the best-selling girl group album in South Korean history.
The last product that was mentioned by Shopee is lightsticks, with BTS's Army Bomb and BLACKPINK's BI-ping-bong.
The Army Bomb was first revealed to fans on March 10, 2015. The Army Bomb has a translucent, round shape and is meant to mimic the pattern of a globe with a fuse at the top, showing how the group is going to take over the world with their explosive popularity. The most recent version of the Army Bomb, which was released in July 2018, is Version 3. This version of the lightstick comes with an official app to switch the light stick to concert mode and manual mode using Bluetooth.
BI-ping-bong was released to fans on May 28, 2018. According to YG Entertainment, the girls of BLACKPINK designed the lightstick themselves. The lightstick resembles a hammer, with two pink hearts made up of silicon on both sides. If fans were to hit something with the lightstick, it would make a squeaking sound, just like a toy hammer would!
On Nov. 20, 2020, YG Entertainment released Version 2 of the light stick, which comes with an official app that allows the lightstick to react to an external source of music.
