Germanyʼs Federal Cartel Office announced on October 8 that it has opened an investigation into Chinese e-commerce giant “Temu”. The agency wants to examine the conditions for sellers and how the company treats its suppliers, on whom it relies to sell goods.
Deutsche Welle writes about this.
According to the head of the agency Andreas Mundt, more than 100 million users from European countries visit the “Temu” website every month.
“For almost a year now, the ʼTemuʼ trading platform has been open to German sellers. We suspect that ʼTemuʼ may be setting unacceptable pricing conditions for merchants in the German market,” said Mundt.
According to him, such actions could seriously threaten competition and ultimately lead to higher prices in other sales channels.
The investigation is formally directed against Whaleco Technology Limited (”Temu”), which is “Temu” parent company within the EU and is headquartered in Dublin.
“Temu” has about 19.3 million active users in Germany — more than a quarter of the countryʼs adult population.
There is no reliable data on “Temu” turnover or trading volume, but experts agree that the companyʼs revenues increased sharply in 2024 amid its expansion in Europe and America.
Estimates of annual turnover range from approximately $30 billion to $70 billion, which is double or even quadruple the 2023 figures.
- In July, the European Commission said that online platform “Temu” was not complying with the Digital Services Act. The company is suspected of not checking carefully enough whether its site contained dangerous or illegal goods. The European Commission has launched an investigation.
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