When shopping on Temu, Lori Silva paid just $1.25 for a pair of earrings and $15 for a cardigan. Laurie is just one of the millions of American consumers who have been drawn to the Chinese platform thanks to its dizzying array of affordable products.

Timo topped the US app download rankings in early April, a position it has maintained since January, but its rapid rise comes as platforms linked to Chinese companies face mounting pressure and a ban on youth-favorite TikTok appears inevitable. from him.

Sensor Tower market data shows that some of the most popular platforms currently being downloaded in the US have Chinese origins, including TikTok, video editing app CapCut, and fashion app Shein.

Timo presents itself as an Amazon-like store that sells everything from beauty to homeware and electronics, and its quiet launch last September marked Chinese e-commerce giant Pinduoduo's first foray into the US market.

With the company's rapid rise, which has an office in Boston, Teemo has become the second Chinese-made shopping app, after Shen, to become a hit in America in recent years.

"I've seen a lot of things in the catalog on the app ... on Amazon and other online retailers, but at much higher prices," Lori Silva, a 65-year-old California resident, told AFP.

Lori placed about 20 orders on Timo to purchase supplies, handicrafts, jewelry and gifts.

For her part, Stephanie Wolf, 38, said she first bought supplies such as eyeliner and jewelry as a trial in January.

"It arrived so quickly. I couldn't believe it. ... Once I knew the app could be trusted, I kept asking for more," she added.
To promote the app, the company used messages promising Americans opportunities to "shop like billionaires."

"I saw the ad and thought, 'This is the app I'm using!' Since then I've noticed it's getting more and more popular," Wolf said.

Sensor Tower reported that Timo has been downloaded 33 million times in the US since its launch, with user numbers rising during a February ad campaign marking the NFL, the most-watched television event in the US.

- Link to China -

The rise of Chen and Timo comes as leading US fashion and fashion companies seek to reduce their dealings with China as concerns grow about escalating tensions between Washington and Beijing, according to Xing Lu, a professor of fashion and fashion studies at the University of Delaware.

Both brands primarily source their products from China, Sheng Lu said, and Timo mostly ships direct from there as well, while Amazon has distribution centers in the US.

He added that this allows Timo to take advantage of China's strengths in producing larger numbers of items with greater flexibility while benefiting from exemptions in the United States from import duties for low-value shipments.

Lu said that for Chen in particular, AI and big data play a "crucial role" in the app's widespread adoption and success.

"Shine's management used data it collected from its apps and other social media channels to understand consumers' shopping habits and lifestyles, which enabled the company to offer what was needed," he added.

- Audit -
But the rise of Chinese apps has come with scrutiny of their operating systems. In 2021, the non-governmental group Public Eye found that some workers in factories from which Shin imports work 11 to 13 hours a day.

It is also being criticized for the accumulation of waste generated by cheap clothing.

"In addition, similar to TikTok, the rapid expansion of Xin and Teemo in the US has resulted in the collection of massive amounts of personal data from American consumers," Lu said.

TikTok is facing the possibility of being banned in the United States, under the pretext that the data it collects could threaten national security and that its algorithm poses a threat to mental health. During a hearing in the US Congress last month, the CEO of TikTok faced accusations that the app was a threat to America.

So far, Timo and Shin are still spared.

Georgia Institute of Technology professor Milton Mueller played down the risk of data sharing and said that "a company's nationality is a non-essential and nationalistic criterion" in assessing security threats.

A paper Mueller co-authored and published in January concluded: "Data collected by TikTok can only be of espionage value if it comes from users closely associated with jobs with the national security services and who use the app in ways that reveal sensitive information."

The study confirmed that "these risks arise from the use of any social media application."

Meanwhile, the vast majority of American consumers ignore rumored security concerns.

Wolf said she uses a VPN and pays through PayPal. "Because I take precautions, I'm not worried," she explained.