Back in October 2024 word got out that Apple was facing an iPhone 16 sales ban in Indonesia. Ministers in the country demanded that Apple renew a certificate that is issued when at least 40% of the components used in a device sold in Indonesia are sourced from the country. The last certificate Apple received for the iPhone has expired and needs to be renewed. To renew the certificate Apple will need to work out deals with local manufacturers, develop an app in the country, or work out an innovation development scheme.
Apple is also a little shy of the investment in the country it previously promised which was supposed to add up to 1.71 trillion rupiah ($109.6 million). Thus far, Apple has invested 1.48 trillion rupiah ($94.53 million) in Indonesia which is slightly short of the amount the tech giant said it would invest. As a result, Apple has been unable to sell any of the four new iPhone 16 models in Indonesia and that will continue to be the case until Apple agrees to increase its investment in the country and receive a new certificate.
Apple has started to work out an innovation development scheme by creating Apple Academies in the area. So far three of these have been built with a fourth one announced last April. The Academies are for aspiring app developers.
With the sales ban, those Indonesians wanting to buy an iPhone 16 model will have to pick up the device overseas and at the same time, add on an import fee. The base iPhone 16 model, priced at S$1,299 ($994) will require an additional import fee of $155 to bring the phone from Singapore to Indonesia.
According to a new report, Apple has increased its offer to invest $100 million in Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy, over the next two years. That is a huge increase of 10 times Apple’s previous proposal to invest $10 million in a factory in Bandung, located southeast of Jakarta, that would make accessories and components. While Indonesia has yet to give an answer to Apple’s latest proposal, the Ministry of Industry wants Apple to focus more on research and development for the iPhones released in the country.
Indonesia has also blocked the sale of Google’s Pixel 9 handsets in the country for a similar lack of investment in the country on Google’s part. There is plenty of potential for both Apple and Google to make thins right in Indonesia. More than half of the country’s population of 278 million consumers is under 44 years old and is considered tech savvy.