Indonesia to assess $100 mn Apple investment proposal to end iPhone 16 ban

By Faris Mokhtar

 

Indonesia is set to assess a $100 million investment proposal from Apple Inc., as the American tech giant attempts to coax the government to unblock its sales ban on the iPhone 16. 

Southeast Asia’s largest nation confirmed that it had received Apple’s latest investment offer, which entails building a manufacturing plant to produce accessories and components, the Ministry of Industry said in a statement on Wednesday evening. Its minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, who had blocked the permit allowing the sale of the iPhone 16 in October, is set to hold a meeting on Thursday to discuss the proposal.

 

The meeting “means that the industry minister welcomes Apple’s investment commitment,” ministry spokesperson Febri Hendri Antoni Arif said in the statement.

 

The statement confirmed an earlier report by Bloomberg News that Apple has increased its offer to invest in Indonesia by almost tenfold, after initially offering a close to $10 million investment to undo the sale ban.

 

Indonesia’s government blocked sales of the iPhone 16 on the grounds the US tech company’s local unit hasn’t met a 40 per cent domestic content requirement for smartphones and tablets. According to authorities, Apple has only invested 1.5 trillion rupiah (about $95 million) in the nation via developer academies, falling short of a commitment of 1.7 trillion rupiah. Indonesia has also banned sales of Alphabet Inc.’s Google Pixel phones over a similar lack of investment.

 

The bans are the latest example of Indonesia playing hardball as new President Prabowo Subianto seeks to pressure international firms to boost local manufacturing, which would be a boon for domestic industries. Indonesia last year announced regulations forcing ByteDance Ltd.’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.