Indonesia blocks iPhone 16 sales
Apple has been ordered to temporarily halt sales of its iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro smartphones in Indonesia because it’s failed to meet local investment requirements.
The Indonesian Ministry of Industry said on October 25 that Apple’s local branch hasn’t fulfilled the 40 percent local content requirements for smartphones introduced in 2017, meaning the latest iPhone 16 series cannot be sold commercially in Indonesia. Older iPhones and other Apple products are unaffected.
The move comes at a time when Apple is seeing strong iPhone sales worldwide. Home to 270 million people, Indonesia is the fourth most populated country in the world, with more than 350 million mobile phone owners.
Apple barred from selling iPhone 16 in Indonesia
“About 9,000 iPhone 16 units have so far entered Indonesia, hand-carried by passengers and crew or delivered by post, the industry ministry said,” Claire Jiao writes, reporting for Bloomberg. “These are only allowed for personal use and cannot be traded, it said.”
“Even this route may not be easy for interested iPhone 16 buyers though. Indonesia has since 2020 required all phones purchased overseas to be registered with the government and those are subject to a hefty tax.”
Apple committed to investing 1.7 trillion rupiah (about $108 million) in Indonesia but only spent 1.5 trillion rupiah ($95 million) so far. It’s built four developer academies in Indonesia, while its rivals Samsung and Xiaomi have set up local factories.
It appears that the government of Indonesia is looking to leverage trade restrictions to push foreign companies to manufacture products domestically, similar to India, where Apple also has manufacturing operations. “The government tightened import rules on a wide swathe of products this year, leading to a shortage of items such as laptops and car tires, and causing a pile-up in its ports,” the report adds.
Source link: https://www.idownloadblog.com/2024/10/28/indonesia-blocks-iphone-16-sales/
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