NEW YORK - Temu topped US app download rankings in early April, a spot it held since January, but its rapid rise comes as platforms with links to China face growing scrutiny and when a ban on youth favorite TikTok appears increasingly inevitable.
According to Sensor Tower data, some of the most popular platforms downloaded in the US currently have Chinese roots, including TikTok, video-editor CapCut and fashion upstart Shein.
Temu is positioned as an Amazon-like superstore, selling everything from make-up to homeware and electronics, and its quiet launch last September marked Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo's first foray into the US market.
Based out of a Boston office block, Temu's out-of-the-blue success makes it the second Chinese-made shopping app -- after Gen Z darling Shein -- to make a splash in America in recent years.
According to Sensor Tower, Temu has had 33 million US downloads since its launch, with user numbers surging on the month of the Super Bowl, the most-watched TV event in the US.
- China connections -
But the ascent of Chinese apps have been accompanied by scrutiny that Temu may too have to grapple with.
In 2021, non-governmental group Public Eye found that some workers behind Shein's breakneck production toil for 11 to 13 hours a day.
It has also come under fire for generating fast fashion waste and apologized for products like a swastika necklace in 2020.
TikTok faces a potential US ban amid allegations that its data haul amounts to a national security threat and that its algorithm poses a danger to mental health.
So far, Temu and Shein have avoided the fate of TikTok, whose CEO faced a brutal hearing in US Congress last month, with unanimous accusations by lawmakers that the social media app was a threat to America.