[elepop]

Ayu has been active for more than 10 years now. She was once a HUGE and extremely popular idol. I'm pretty sure she was well-known all over Asia since 2001-2002, at the highest peak of her career. Even now, I think a lot of people in Asia a part from Japan know who Ayumi is. And she has lots of fans in HK, Taiwan etc too.

SNSD right now is super popular too though. More than Ayu? Maybe not. But the popularity they have gained since their debut (it's only been 3 years) is really impressive. They are really popular in Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan (or else, there wouldn't be a SNSD copycat group lol) and even in Japan (when it was announced that they were going to debut in Japan, it made into the news!). I'm pretty sure most people know "Gee" in Asia.

IMO, SNSD is probably more popular in Asia now compared to Ayu. But Ayu is overall more well-known.