'Michael' Album Sales Fail to Impress in the U.S.

Michael Jackson’s posthumous album, Michael, didn’t do as well in the United States as was expected.

Although the late “King of Pop” debuted at No. 1 in world sales, it only ranked No. 3 in the U.S., his label Sony Corp-owned Epic Records said on Wednesday.

Michael debuted at No. 2 in Belgium and Canada, No. 3 in Japan and the U.S. and No. 4 in Britain, France and Denmark.

Epic said that the album was No. 1 in Germany, selling 85,000 copies. In Britain, it sold 113,000, the singer’s best sales since 1991’s Dangerous.

Here in the United States, music insiders projected the album to sell 400,000 in the first week but it only sold 228,000.

Taylor Swift’s Speak Now stands at No. 1 for the third consecutive week, followed by Susan Boyle’s The Gift at No. 2.