Indonesia bans sales of Google’s Pixel smartphones, days after blocking Apple’s iPhone 16

Apple's iPhone 15 seen on display at a shopping mall in Denpasar, the provincial capital of Bali in Indonesia, on October 28, 2024. Photo: EPA-EFE

Indonesia said it has banned sales of smartphones made by Alphabet's Google owing to rules requiring the use of locally manufactured components, days after blocking sales of tech giant Apple's iPhone 16 for the same reason.

Domestic sales of Google's Pixel smartphones were blocked because the company has not met Indonesia's rules that call for certain handsets sold in the country to contain at least 40 per cent of locally made parts.

"We are pushing these rules so that there's fairness for all investors in Indonesia," Febri Hendri Antoni Arief, spokesman for the country's Ministry of Industry, said on Thursday. "Google's products have not adhered to the scheme we set, so they can't be sold here."

Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team.

Febri said consumers can buy Google's Pixel smartphone overseas, so long as they pay the necessary taxes, adding that the country would consider deactivating the handsets that are illicitly sold.

Google did not immediately respond to a message and email requesting comment.

The ban comes a week after Indonesia said it had blocked domestic sales of the iPhone 16, which also did not meet local-content requirements.

Companies usually increase the use of Indonesia-made components to meet such rules through partnerships with local suppliers or by sourcing parts domestically.

Bhima Yudhistira, director of think tank the Centre of Economic and Law Studies, described Indonesia's move as "pseudo" protectionism that hurts consumers and impacts investor confidence.

"This creates a negative sentiment for investors looking to enter Indonesia," he said.

Google and Apple are not among the top smartphone brands in Indonesia. In the first quarter, the largest smartphone vendors in the country were Chinese firm Oppo and South Korea's Samsung Electronics, research firm IDC said in May.

With a huge tech-savvy population, Indonesia has become a key target market for tech-related investments in Southeast Asia.

More Articles from SCMP

China students rally for pancake vendor with cancer-hit wife, form long queues to buy food

Apple’s Greater China sales continue to fall after Cook’s charm offensive in Beijing

‘Back to the old times of Hong Kong’: Halloween draws tens of thousands to Lan Kwai Fong

Inside the explosive success of Samsen, Hong Kong’s famous Thai-Chinese restaurant

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

Copyright (c) 2024. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.