Reviving old thread because I just saw this lol.
In some ways, yes, a lot of agencies were waiting for the current dominating group, which has been Twice for the last few years, to slow down and not be as trendy anymore so they can come in and fill the void. It's why I still believe a gg with a more traditional/fresh image would've worked best for SM. Instead they doubled down on LSM's futuristic vision and gave us Aespa, which tbh will take some time to grow on the Korean gp and just doesn't seem like a concept that would get them that NGG title. They'll still be successful but with this concept, even going past Itzy would be difficult.
I honestly don't think YG and BHNGG will really dominate either although they can be top players.
For the foreseeable future, it's the Blackpink era.
Twice has achieved everything under the sun and their lifetime sales will probably not be touched by anyone. It's time to build a brand around the individual members instead of relying only on OT9. The fans are ready for solo/subunit stuff, and it also gives the members time to rest. The amount of Japanese content alone they've released this year is insane, it's something new every month and now Better dropped right after Eyes Wide Open, Onces literally can't keep up and sales have gone down.