Apple Reportedly Close to a Deal to Lift iPhone 16 Ban in Indonesia

[MacRumors]

Apple is closing in on an investment plan deal with Indonesian authorities that would allow it to resume iPhone 16 sales in the country, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

Indonesia banned sales of the device in October, claiming Apple had failed to comply with local manufacturing requirements of 35% domestic content for smartphones and tablets. Apple has offered a $1 billion investment in the country that includes building an AirTag factory. The offer is a significant increase from its previous offers of $10 million and $100 million, which were rejected by the government.

“I strongly believe it will resolve very, very soon,” the country's investment minister Rosan Roeslani said in an interview with Bloomberg Television in Davos on Tuesday. "Hopefully within one or two weeks this issue can be resolved."

"The way they calculate it is different I think," he said, referring to the local content requirement. "Now they find a solution on that one, so hopefully they accept the discrepancies so we can have the iPhone 16 sold in Indonesia."

Indonesia represents a significant market for Apple, with the country's population of 280 million operating some 354 million active mobile phones. The company has maintained developer academies there since 2018, but the country currently hosts no Apple manufacturing facilities.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Close to a Deal to Lift iPhone 16 Ban in Indonesia

 

[wanha]

Basic physics - in order to lift something, you need leverage

 

[JPack]

Apple will obviously play ball given Indonesia’s population is nearly 300 million with many young people. The initial offer of $1B was a bit of a joke.

My guess would be $10 billion along with assembling batteries and chassis instead of AirTags.

 

[H2SO4]

Close to a deal? That means;

Tim: Ok we can give you this much, $xxxxx
Indonesia: Nah, double it.
Tim: HOW MUCH???. Ok, lemme think about it.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Once that ban is lifted there will be a pent up demand surge of buying iPhone 16s that’s for sure.

 

[steve09090]

I don’t hate Apple for this.
I don’t hate Indonesia for this.

I think I’m on the wrong forum.

 

[segfaultdotorg]

Didn't they already pay one bribe, and now Indonesia wants a second one?

 

[sparkie7]

Indonesian Minister of Money Box (Finance) – gets ready to dive into her anticipated expanding Money Bin, – like Scrooge McDuck 😂😂 – KA CHING !!!

 

[surferfb]

Didn't they already pay one bribe, and now Indonesia wants a second one?

Kind of. They proposed the $1 billion "investment", the President said "that works" (as reported by Bloomberg) then the Minister came back and said "never mind, we need more." So nothing was actually paid, but the shakedown continued.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Didn't they already pay one bribe, and now Indonesia wants a second one?

I think we are on to at least the third one now.

 

[webkit]

Didn't they already pay one bribe, and now Indonesia wants a second one?

I think we are on to at least the third one now.

No. Nothing has been officially agreed to yet. Also, governments can set requirements and fees regarding companies doing business in their country/region. Given the investment components here, I don’t think it would or should necessarily be viewed as a bribe anyway.

At this point, Apple is trying to (at least temporarily) get around the domestic content laws through this process.

 

[Lodovik]

To resume all these “negotiations”:

Mo’ money + Mo’ money + Mo’ money = 1 billion

 

[quietstormSD]

It looks like bribery with governments in the norm now.

 

[JPack]

No. Nothing has been officially agreed to yet. Also, governments can set requirements and fees regarding companies doing business in their country/region. Given the investment components here, I don’t think it would or should necessarily be viewed as a bribe anyway.

At this point, Apple is trying to (at least temporarily) get around the domestic content laws through this process.

Correct, nothing was ever agreed upon. Apple never met the domestic component requirement in the first place. They've been trying to skirt the requirement by offering to build an AirTags assembly site.

 

[iSayuSay]

Once that ban is lifted there will be a pent up demand surge of buying iPhone 16s that’s for sure.

I don't think there will be that much hype now we're so close to mid-cycle? This uplift sounds more like an assurance that Apple could still be exist and sell future iPhone releases in Indonesia.

This case just shows how iPhone becomes a core product of Apple ecosystem. Everything that Apple makes or sells revolves around it. Apple Watch, AirPods, Airtag, Macs you name it and it's enough to topple Apple trillions of $ valuation.

 

[DownUnderDan]

The correct way to resolve this is for Tim to offer to make a 40 million dollar movie on the first wife of the Indonesian President and have her be executive producer on the project. That's the American way to do things with government.

 

[MacBH928]

good for indonesia to protect its own economy, but not sure if its going to help them if every phone manufacturer has to build 35% of its production locally. Not every company will build a country-specific-factory

 

[steve09090]

It looks like bribery with governments in the norm now.

It works exactly the same way the other way around when tax incentives are given to businesses. If a company wants in, they provide sweeteners, whether it’s money or services.

 

[JPack]

good for indonesia to protect its own economy, but not sure if its going to help them if every phone manufacturer has to build 35% of its production locally. Not every company will build a country-specific-factory

Not many countries have nearly 300 million people. It's a reasonable and smart ask by Indonesia.

 

[quietstormSD]

It works exactly the same way the other way around when tax incentives are given to businesses. If a company wants in, they provide sweeteners, whether it’s money or services.

That's completely different. lol Sorry, I would tell you why, but I can't really go point for point with someone who justifies bribery. I don't like to waste my time.

 

[steve09090]

That's completely different. lol Sorry, I would tell you why, but I can't really go point for point with someone who justifies bribery. I don't like to waste my time.

Justifies bribery? I’ll defend myself and say thats a bald face lie! Happy for you to retract that. Feel free to explain it if you can. Point for point or whatever you choose. I’m just telling you that Governments give incentives to bring in businesses. Not sure how that’s bribery, but clearly you don’t understand how things work.

Again, no different to governments offering visa's to people with particular skills sets that are required in a country as a priority over others.

But again, you clearly don’t get it.