Apple's $1 Billion Investment May Soon End Indonesian iPhone Ban

Apple is close to reaching an agreement with Indonesia to lift the ban on iPhone 16 sales in the country after securing preliminary approval for a $1 billion investment proposal, according to Bloomberg.

iPhone 16 Apple Store
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is said to have given his support for the government to accept Apple's investment plan following a weekend briefing. The proposal includes establishing manufacturing facilities in the country, with one of Apple's suppliers set to build an AirTag production plant on Batam island.

The Batam facility is expected to initially employ 1,000 workers and will eventually account for 20% of global AirTag production. The location was chosen for its free-trade zone status, which provides tax exemptions and import duty benefits.

Additional investments will fund a separate manufacturing facility in Bandung for producing other accessories, as well as expanding Apple's existing developer academies in Indonesia. President Prabowo has directed his Economic Affairs Ministry to finalize the agreement, but no specific timeline has been provided for lifting the iPhone 16 sales ban.

The ban was implemented in October after Indonesian authorities determined Apple had failed to meet the country's requirement for 40% domestic content in smartphones. Apple's latest proposal represents a significant increase from its previous offers of $10 million and $100 million, which were rejected by the government.

If approved, the deal would mark a success for President Prabowo's efforts to attract foreign investment while demonstrating the effectiveness of Indonesia's strategy to pressure international companies into developing products locally. The country remains a significant market for Apple, with over half of its 278 million residents under the age of 44.

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Top Rated Comments

mavis Avatar
15 weeks ago
Sounds like extortion to me. ?
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
iPay Avatar
15 weeks ago
That should [S]buy enough generals[/S] reinstate enough confidence to get back in business.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wbeasley Avatar
15 weeks ago
every country will try this now... give in to extortion once and you set a dangerous precedent... :(
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
surferfb Avatar
15 weeks ago

How is it extortion?

If Apple wants to do business in Indonesia and access Indonesia customers, they have to meet Indonesia requirements (e.g., 40% domestic content, some sort of investment, pay taxes, etc.) and if app developers want to do business on iOS and access iOS customers (at least for the non-EU markets), they have to meet Apple requirements which includes paying Apple to sell apps/in-app products.

Both the Indonesia and iOS/app scenarios are legal, unlike extortion.
Looking forward to your support for the incoming American administration demanding that foreign companies pay a billion dollars before being able to sell their products in the US!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
sparkie7 Avatar
15 weeks ago
Apple bean-counters would have done their calculations, spreadsheets + projections. It was a business decision that favoured Apple. Otherwise they wouldn't have done the deal.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StoneJack Avatar
15 weeks ago
Make Indonesia great again! :)
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)