Not only iPhone 16, Google's Pixel phones have also been banned from sale in Indonesia for not meeting local content requirements.
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| Google Pixel banned from sale in Indonesia for failing to meet local content standards |
In a press conference on October 31, Indonesian Ministry of Industry spokesman Febri Hendri Antoni Arief said that the sale of Pixel phones in the country is illegal because Google does not comply with the country's regulations.
Under Indonesian regulations, smartphone and tablet makers are required to meet local content requirements of up to 40% depending on the scale of their operations in the country. Google Pixel failed to meet this requirement.
Previously, Southeast Asia's largest economy also banned the sale of the iPhone 16 because Apple failed to fulfill its investment commitment. According to Mr. Arief, "Apple" is asking to meet with Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita to discuss the ban, although no date has been set.
According to Indonesia's Industry Ministry, Apple has set up developer academies here but the investment amount is only 1.5 trillion rupiah ($95 million), lower than the 1.7 trillion rupiah committed.
The move signals Indonesia’s willingness to step up enforcement of its restrictive policies to ensure fairness for all investors in the country. Smartphone makers must manufacture devices, develop system software or invest in innovation locally to meet Indonesia’s local content requirements.
At $1 trillion, Indonesia is a potential growth market with more than 350 million active mobile phones - far higher than its population of 270 million, according to government data.
Neither Google nor Apple made it into the country’s top five smartphone brands last year. Meanwhile, the top two smartphone makers in Indonesia in the first quarter of 2024 were OPPO and Samsung.
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