Even though Apple is not among the top six players in the Indonesian market, Indonesia remains a lucrative market for technology companies, with more than 350 million active smartphone users in the country and 100 million people under 30 years. According to IDC data from May, Oppo And Samsung were the two main players in the Indonesian smartphone market.

Why is iPhone 16 banned in Indonesia?

Indonesia’s Ministry of Industry claims (via Bloomberg) that Apple has only invested 1.5 trillion rupiah in Indonesia, compared to a commitment of 1.7 trillion rupiah. Notably, Apple does not have any manufacturing plants in the country, while competitors like Xiaomi and Samsung have set up their facilities to comply with Indonesia’s domestic content regulations rolled out in 2017.

However, Apple has established developer academies in Indonesia since 2018 to comply with local regulations. Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Indonesia in April this year and met with former President Joko Widodo and his successor, Prabowo Subianto. After the meeting, Cook said Widodo wanted Apple to set up a manufacturing plant in the country, which is a possibility the company is exploring.

The Indonesian Ministry of Industry states that only 9,000 units of the iPhone16 arrived in the country this year, imported for personal use and not available for commerce, Bloomberg reported.

Meanwhile, the news of the iPhone 16 ban also coincides with the release of the first wave of Apple Intelligence (AI) features rolling out to the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro models via the iOS 18.1 update. The new update brings many notable improvements, including system-wide writing tools, a revamped Photos app, more conversational and natural Siri, and call recording.

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Published: October 29, 2024, 02:22 PM IST