Indonesia calls Apple’s US$100 million investment offer unfair
The amount falls short of what the US tech firm has invested in other countries
APPLE’S proposal to invest US$100 million in Indonesia hasn’t met “fairness” principles, a top government official said, signalling Jakarta may reject the offer and keep a ban on domestic iPhone 16 sales.
The amount falls short of what the US tech firm has invested in other countries, Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita told reporters on Monday (Nov 25). For instance, Apple has funnelled more than US$15 billion toward manufacturing facilities in Vietnam, where its market sales total just roughly 1.5 million units, the official said. In comparison, Apple has only invested about US$94.5 million in developer academies in Indonesia, where it sells some 2.5 million units.
The latest comments indicate more hurdles ahead for Apple as it seeks to lift a ban on selling its flagship iPhone 16 in South-east Asia’s largest economy. Rival phone makers like Samsung Electronics and Xiaomi have invested 8 trillion rupiah (S$679.3 million) and 55 trillion rupiah, respectively, to manufacture their devices onshore, the minister added.
“We want Apple to return to do business here but we need a fair resolution,” Kartasasmita said.
Indonesia’s government blocked sales of the iPhone 16 on the grounds that Apple hasn’t met a 40 per cent domestic content requirement for smartphones and tablets.
The Cupertino, California-based company’s 1.5 trillion rupiah investment in the country falls short of the 1.7 trillion rupiah it pledged in 2023 – a discrepancy of about US$10 million “which is so small,” the minister said on Monday. In an attempt to lift the sales ban, Apple made an upsized US$100-million investment offer, Bloomberg News reported this month.
The bans are the latest example of Indonesia playing hard ball as new President Prabowo Subianto seeks to pressure international firms to boost local manufacturing, which would be a boon for domestic industries. The country has also banned sales of Alphabet’s Google Pixel phones over a similar lack of investment.
Last year, Indonesia announced regulations forcing ByteDance’s TikTok to split its shopping feature from the popular video-scrolling service, a bid to shield its retail sector from cheap Chinese-made goods. BLOOMBERG
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