iPhone 16 Still Banned in Indonesia Despite $1B Apple Investment Deal

[switz]

Just like in the USA, you bribe the President. We have all watched the million dollar bribes going into Trump’s personal inauguration (slush) fund. We never did find out where the hundreds of millions went from the first one he had. It sure did not cost that much.

 

[Supercyborgninja]

LOVE IT!

Value places outside the West or West adjacent. Invest in Indonesia, Algeria, Ghana, etc!

 

[UK-MacAddict]

Yes, that's exactly what the criminals and liars want you to believe. "Everybody is guilty and lying anyway, so it's okay."

Every country has terrible things in their history, and no country is perfect, but that doesn't mean some governments are doing worse things than others.

Not saying it’s ok and not saying some governments are doing worse things than the other.

They are all doing equally bad things.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

So what if you are not Apple but a small business? You can’t sell a product in Indonesia because you don’t make it there? Sounds to me like a money grab by the Indonesian government.

It applies to smartphones and tablets, specifically. I can't really think of any "small business" smartphone manufactures.

Fun fact, the Pixel is banned too.

 

[UK-MacAddict]

There are failures in democracy. But please do not compare that to China. In China, political party members can walk into your house, deem it too big for your requirement and claim the house for their use. They can kill your baby to control population.
Please do not compare other working democracies to China. If you can vote and elect out your current government, then that's a big achievement in human history.

The UK government when building the HS2 train line forced out hundreds of businesses that ran along the route they planned. They forced them to sell their business and properties for 1/3 of the market value and they couldn’t challenge it. Some of these were rural family businesses that had been on the land for decades and were put out of business. Now that the line has been scrapped are they going to return those properties at the same value they forced people to sell at?

They also tax exempt the Royal Family as they are deemed as non business entity. Yet they make millions every year from leasing out properties and selling goods.

UK voting system is creaking and the current system needs changing. The seats won in parliament to vote share was disproportionate. Lib Dem won 71 seats on a 12% share and Reform only got 4 seats with a 14% vote share. Somehow Labour won on a vote share not changed since 2019. So they were hardly overly popular.

 

[gavroche]

Good stuff. Go Indonesia! Large population, growing middle class, massive users of social media + phones.

168million Indonesians own a smart phone. around 60million of their 278million population are what would be considered middle class.

I've seen first hand that even poorer young people will go out of their way and spend significant money to get an iPhone.

Apple will need to learn to play nice and invest, invest, invest to create jobs these countries if they want to sell their expensive stuff.

And again, I'd much rather buy an iPhone manufactured in Indonesia (or India) - a democracy - than China. I would pay more for one. A bit annoyed that apple don't give us the choice. Even better if I could pick UK/EEA or Canada/USA.

Think this through. Country A forces Apple to invest Billions in their country for the privilege of selling products there. Promptly Countries B-Z will line up and want the same thing. So we should just have factories assembling products all over the world? What affect do you think that will have on price.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Think this through. Country A forces Apple to invest Billions in their country for the privilege of selling products there. Promptly Countries B-Z will line up and want the same thing. So we should just have factories assembling products all over the world? What affect do you think that will have on price.

Reduction in price due to more competition.

We need less centralized and fewer multinational corporations, for a multitude of reasons. Geopolitical stability (lack of) being a big one.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

I'll sit here with popcorns and wait for geoplitics and Indonesian's legal system and politics experts defending poor Apple.

I’m waiting for the EU to restrict the sale of the iPhone to get what they want. They MUST be looking at Indonesia thinking, “Why didn’t WE do that?”

 

[WarmWinterHat]

I’m waiting for the EU to restrict the sale of the iPhone to get what they want. They MUST be looking at Indonesia thinking, “Why didn’t WE do that?”

Cool. They have the right to do as they wish within their borders, and if that is what the EU's constitute wants, then go for it.

 

[Madhatter32]

Cool. They have the right to do as they wish within their borders, and if that is what the EU's constitute wants, then go for it.

US membership in NATO is also discretionary. Just saying.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

US membership in NATO is also discretionary. Just saying.

Indeed it is, and using military threats to get a country (or collection of) to be favorable to outside corporate interests is BS. Corporations should have little to no influence in governmental decision-making.

I'm an American, and almost to the point I think NATO should drop the US. We've proven ourselves an unreliable partner that will put personal and national interests and agendas above global stability. I think the US will change it's tune once NATO says "okay, you do that, and you lose all access to bases on NATO-affiliated soil, seaports for military ships, and any military airspace above NATO-affiliated countries. Good luck."

 

[neuropsychguy]

Reduction in price due to more competition.

We need less centralized and fewer multinational corporations, for a multitude of reasons. Geopolitical stability (lack of) being a big one.

There are the start-up costs to be factored in. There is the complexity of sourcing from multiple locations to be factored in. There is the issue of ensuring equivalence of quality at more sites. Then add in the complexity of dealing with more governments, fees, etc. and reduced price is not guaranteed. With less centralization of production, there's a greater risk of IP theft.

I don't know what the best answer is, but decentralization is almost never more efficient and it's uncertain if it would be better for consumers.

 

[MysteriousStain]

Just pop each phone into a locally made box with a sprig of holly and a scoop of potpourri. Lovely!

 

[macfacts]

Indonesia is overplaying its hand. If I were Apple, I would walk.

Everyone in America that wants to buy an iPhone has one and android users aren't switching. There's no where else for growth. Where is apple going to walk to?

 

[Madhatter32]

Indeed it is, and using military threats to get a country (or collection of) to be favorable to outside corporate interests is BS. Corporations should have little to no influence in governmental decision-making.

I'm an American, and almost to the point I think NATO should drop the US. We've proven ourselves an unreliable partner that will put personal and national interests and agendas above global stability. I think the US will change it's tune once NATO says "okay, you do that, and you lose all access to bases on NATO-affiliated soil, seaports for military ships, and any military airspace above NATO-affiliated countries. Good luck."

NATO is the US (and the US security umbrella is paid for by US citizens ... not Europeans). A modicum of grace and appreciation by Europe of this reality is needed especially when European countries cannot, and apparently do not want to, fund their own defense. European regulatory hostility to American companies is a joke ... but not funny.

As for the US bases in Europe ... those are intended for Western European defense, not American defense. Let's keep it real.

 

[JPack]

Just sounds like "potential" to lose more money on a market that doesn't use your products and services.
Once you have a 90% monopoly in a country, you aren't going to get a lot of switchers by introducing a more expensive product with a lot of ecosystem lock in. That's a hard market to win over.

Current Indonesian smartphone ASP is $215 which means Apple has a lot of potential growth. This is roughly the same as India. There aren't many countries in the world with that population and growth potential.

Indonesia knows it has Apple and they don't have a choice and will invest.

Countries like the U.S. where they've self-banned competition from smartphones and EV, Apple doesn't need to invest. There's no potential for Americans to switch over.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

NATO is the US (and the US security umbrella is paid for by US citizens ... not Europeans). A modicum of grace and appreciation by Europe of this reality is needed especially when European countries cannot, and apparently do not want to, fund their own defense. European regulatory hostility to American companies is a joke ... but not funny.

As for the US bases in Europe ... those are intended for Western European defense, not American defense. Let's keep it real.

I am keeping real. He is the real deal, the US isn't going to abandon NATO because of Apple's dislike of EU regulation. They just aren't that important, nor is the entirety of Silicon Valley.

Additionally, while NATO is disproportionately paid for by US citizens, it's not all paid by the US. We spend too much on defense, and Europe spends too little.

 

[switz]

A race exists to build the biggest bomb. What happens if is splits the planet when used? …….

 

[dlopan]

I have been there once. What a trashed country. Apple needs to ignore them. Never ever going back. The komodo dragons were more interesting. My 1st time being escorted into a country by the police. At really high speed. I didn't know buses could go that fast (over 100)

 

[Biro]

Everyone in America that wants to buy an iPhone has one and android users aren't switching. There's no where else for growth. Where is apple going to walk to?

The rest of the world is watching. If Indonesia gets away with this, the shakedowns will commence across the globe. There’s nothing wrong with Indonesia wanting local investment. But this appears to be a moving target. Indonesia is overplaying its hand. Apple should walk away - and then the world will realize that even Apple has its limits.

 

[HiVolt]

Apple will need to learn to play nice and invest, invest, invest to create jobs these countries if they want to sell their expensive stuff.

So if every country required this, do you think Apple should build a factory in every country that they want to sell products in?

That's completely unreasonable and you know it.

Diversifying production? absolutely a great idea and they are already doing it in different places in the world. What has the Indonesian government offered to Apple for the creation of thousands of jobs?

 

[sza]

Just quit that market and invest in Malaysia or Singapore.

 

[fabian9]

How are ANY smartphones being sold in Indonesia?

I can’t imagine Samsung having a big enough manufacturing footprint there that makes up 35% of Samsung smartphones?

 

[JPack]

How are ANY smartphones being sold in Indonesia?

I can’t imagine Samsung having a big enough manufacturing footprint there that makes up 35% of Samsung smartphones?

Xiaomi, Oppo, and Samsung all assemble and source parts from Indonesia to sell in Indonesia.

Apple invested more than $15 billion in Vietnam even though the market is far smaller than Indonesia.

In short, Apple is just being cheap by offering $1B. Fourth most populous country in the world and the proposal is $1B making AirTags? That's a joke. The government know it. Apple knows it.

 

[seek3r]

Indonesia's government's entire budget is $190 billion, a single company providing the level of investment $1B represents is actually pretty huge already