Girls' Generation's comeback was suddenly postponed. The official announcement is that their comeback was pushed back because the music video data was corrupted, but no one will believe that. Not only that, this music video mishap announcement was given after YG Entertainment revealed 2NE1's surprise comeback. So of course Girls' Generation's music video story is a little doubtful. The media is hinting that SM Entertainment pushed Girls' Generation's comeback in order to avoid going head to head with 2NE1.

Girls' Generation's scheduled comeback was to release their song on the 19th and album on the 24th. 2NE1's song will be released on the 24th, and their album will be released on March 1st. If it were to be a true head to head battle, then every release should have been in the same week. No matter how popular a singer might be, their official activities are only about a month or so. As such, a week difference in comeback dates would no doubt have a big influence on their competition. Even still, YG's announcement of a 'simultaneous' comeback indicates they had ulterior motives in mind.

In the past, Girls' Generation released a song called "Genie". Despite the song being fairly well known, it only won number 1 just once, and was overtaken by 2NE1. This kind of humiliation is not easily forgotten. That's why people were so quick to conclude that Girls' Generation didn't want to be defeated by 2NE1's strategy again. When we consider the two group's past, it's understandable that they would blame music video data corruption, which is hard to believe.

After Wonder Girls decided to come to the states for overseas activities, Girls' Generation lacked a proper competitor in Korea. They quickly became an exclusive focus for the media. But if 2NE1 were to be active around the same time, it'll be hard for Girls' Generation to have the same kind of monopoly effect. Furthermore, if they were to get overtaken by 2NE1, even Girls' Generation would suffer consequences. Maybe that's why they didn't want to have their comeback before 2NE1.

YG is probably disappointed that SM backed out of the game. They probably didn't anticipate that a top girl group such as Girls' Generation would back off. They would have been able to claim that it was a 'toe to toe' competition with a small one week time difference. And even if 2NE1 were to 'lose' to Girls' Generation, it would not necessarily be a loss for the group since they would take all the advantages in marketing. They must be really disappointed right about now.

And so what is YG to do? SM didn't announce a specific postponement date, so it's difficult for YG to postpone their group as well. It's clear that SM will not let Girls' Generation come back before 2NE1. So to speak, SM chose practical interests over pride. Anyway, SM probably had 2009 in mind when they decided to make this decision.

YG had already added their name onto the Girls' Generation comeback, but now they're left all alone. Even though things won't be happening according to YG's plan, they probably put a dent in Girls' Generation's comeback plan. We don't know just how much YG will gain from this happening, but it will definitely have an impact on 2NE1 as well. It's curious that 2NE1 would need to use this kind of tactic of tying themselves to Girls' Generation, since 2NE1 has gained so much popularity. All we can say is that both YG's tactic of passively attacking Girls' Generation and also SM's avoidance of the direct competition with excuses are not befitting of major companies such as these.