> Indonesia is home to some 190 million smartphone users in 2022, according to market research firm Newzoo.
> According to data from the Ministry of Industry, the country imported about 22,000 Google Pixel phones and 9,000 iPhone 16s in 2024, before authorities announced the bans
> Winston, a medical doctor who lives and works in the capital of North Sumatra Province, is a self-proclaimed Apple fan.
> Winston, however, has reluctantly given up on the idea since the Indonesian government banned sales of the iPhone 16 and the Google Pixel in late October, citing the tech giants’ failure to comply with the country’s **Tingkat Komponen Dalam Negeri, or TKDN, policy, which requires phones to source at least 40 percent of their parts locally.**
> **While Winston could buy an iPhone overseas to bring back home – a relatively common practice that is legal as long as the phone is not resold – he has been burned by Indonesian regulations before.**
> Winston used his IPhone 11 from Singapore without problems for about a year, **until the Indonesian government in 2022 issued a regulation mandating that all phones be registered.**
> **Despite registering his phone as required, the device suddenly lost signal one day and would not reconnect to the network, even with a different SIM card, he said.**
> “I went to a licensed Apple products reseller in Medan because I thought there was a problem with the phone, but they just said, ‘There is nothing we can do or suggest,’” he said.
> In a bid to break the impasse, Apple has pledged to dramatically ramp up its investment in the country in exchange for lifting the ban.
> In November, the California-based tech giant **offered to invest $100m in the country over two years, a 10-fold increase from an earlier pledge to pour $10m into the construction of an accessories and components factory in Bandung, West Java.**
> Despite the offer, the Ministry of Industry appeared **unmoved**.
> “From the government’s perspective, of course, **we want this investment to be larger**,” spokesperson Febri Hendri Antoni Arif said at the time.
> On November 25, Jakarta **formally rejected the offer**, with Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita saying it did not meet Indonesia’s “principles of fairness”.
> He said that Apple had invested more significant amounts in **neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, including $15bn for manufacturing facilities in the latter.**
> Khairul Mahalli, the head of the Chamber of Commerce in North Sumatra, said that while Indonesia’s TKDN policy is aimed at supporting local industry, it could have unintended consequences.
> “As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) with a trade industry that works between countries, it is fine to protect our industries, but we also need to have checks and balances in place,” Mahalli told Al Jazeera.
> “One of the issues for the future could be that, if Indonesia blocks the sales of certain products, other countries could do the same and no longer accept the sales of Indonesian products on the international market.”
1 Comment
> Indonesia is home to some 190 million smartphone users in 2022, according to market research firm Newzoo.
> According to data from the Ministry of Industry, the country imported about 22,000 Google Pixel phones and 9,000 iPhone 16s in 2024, before authorities announced the bans
> Winston, a medical doctor who lives and works in the capital of North Sumatra Province, is a self-proclaimed Apple fan.
> Winston, however, has reluctantly given up on the idea since the Indonesian government banned sales of the iPhone 16 and the Google Pixel in late October, citing the tech giants’ failure to comply with the country’s **Tingkat Komponen Dalam Negeri, or TKDN, policy, which requires phones to source at least 40 percent of their parts locally.**
> **While Winston could buy an iPhone overseas to bring back home – a relatively common practice that is legal as long as the phone is not resold – he has been burned by Indonesian regulations before.**
> Winston used his IPhone 11 from Singapore without problems for about a year, **until the Indonesian government in 2022 issued a regulation mandating that all phones be registered.**
> **Despite registering his phone as required, the device suddenly lost signal one day and would not reconnect to the network, even with a different SIM card, he said.**
> “I went to a licensed Apple products reseller in Medan because I thought there was a problem with the phone, but they just said, ‘There is nothing we can do or suggest,’” he said.
> In a bid to break the impasse, Apple has pledged to dramatically ramp up its investment in the country in exchange for lifting the ban.
> In November, the California-based tech giant **offered to invest $100m in the country over two years, a 10-fold increase from an earlier pledge to pour $10m into the construction of an accessories and components factory in Bandung, West Java.**
> Despite the offer, the Ministry of Industry appeared **unmoved**.
> “From the government’s perspective, of course, **we want this investment to be larger**,” spokesperson Febri Hendri Antoni Arif said at the time.
> On November 25, Jakarta **formally rejected the offer**, with Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita saying it did not meet Indonesia’s “principles of fairness”.
> He said that Apple had invested more significant amounts in **neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, including $15bn for manufacturing facilities in the latter.**
> Khairul Mahalli, the head of the Chamber of Commerce in North Sumatra, said that while Indonesia’s TKDN policy is aimed at supporting local industry, it could have unintended consequences.
> “As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) with a trade industry that works between countries, it is fine to protect our industries, but we also need to have checks and balances in place,” Mahalli told Al Jazeera.
> “One of the issues for the future could be that, if Indonesia blocks the sales of certain products, other countries could do the same and no longer accept the sales of Indonesian products on the international market.”