Government Lifts IPhone 16 Ban In Indonesia, Apple Agrees To Investment More Than IDR 16.3 Trillion

JAKARTA The iPhone 16 sales ban in Indonesia, which has been going on for several months, will be lifted after Apple reportedly agreed to increase its investment in the country by more than $1 billion. The launch of the iPhone 16e also further pressured the Cupertino-based company to reach an agreement with the Indonesian government.

According to the latest report, Apple will sign an agreement with the Indonesian government this week, while the official announcement of the lifting of the ban will soon follow.

Apple initially invested in Indonesia by embedding USD 109 million (IDR 1.7 trillion) in a developer academy and an additional USD 10 million (IDR 163.4 billion) for manufacturing. However, the Indonesian government considers Apple to have not fulfilled its commitments, by only spending USD 95 million (IDR 1.5 trillion) from the promised funds. As a result, the government prohibits the sale and use of the iPhone 16 in the country.

With a population of about 280 million and an increase in people's purchasing power, this ban is a big problem for Apple. In response, the company increased its investment in manufacturing from 10 million to 100 million US dollars.

However, the Indonesian government still wants a bigger investment. Finally, they asked Apple to increase investment to 1 billion US dollars. Apple also met the request by moving AirTag production to Indonesia, but the government is still not satisfied and urged that iPhone components be produced domestically.

According to a Bloomberg report, the deal has been reached and will be finalized this week.

"The Ministry of Industry, which is responsible for implementing this ban, will sign a memorandum of understanding with Apple in the near future," said a source familiar with the talks. "After that, an iPhone 16 sales permit will be issued soon."

In addition to an investment of US$1 billion, Apple is also committed to training local workers in research and development (R&D) related to its products. This training aims to make Indonesian workers able to develop similar software and design their own products in the future.

This training program will be run outside the existing Apple academy in Indonesia. However, Apple does not yet have a plan to produce the iPhone directly in Indonesia in the near future. Neither Apple nor the Indonesian Ministry of Industry has yet to provide an official response to this report