Indonesia blocks sale of Apple iPhone 16 in bid for investment

INDONESIA has blocked Apple from selling its latest iPhone 16 devices in South-east Asia’s largest economy, saying the company has yet to meet domestic investment requirements.

The iPhone 16, launched in September, cannot be marketed domestically as local unit PT Apple Indonesia has not fulfilled the country’s 40 per cent local content requirements for smart phones, the Ministry of Industry said in a statement on Oct 25.

That’s a road bump for Apple which has otherwise enjoyed healthy sales of its flagship product, especially as demand firms up in China.

Indonesia is a US$1-trillion economy, where the number of active mobile phones is estimated at over 350 million — much more than the nation’s 270 million population.

The industry ministry earlier said that Apple has only invested 1.5 trillion rupiah (S$125.8 million) in Indonesia, below its commitment of 1.7 trillion rupiah. Apple has been building developer academies in lieu of establishing a local manufacturing facility.

About 9,000 iPhone 16 units have so far entered Indonesia, hand-carried by passengers and crew or delivered by post, the ministry said. However, these are only allowed for personal use and cannot be traded. BLOOMBERG