Many Apple fans were eager to get their hands on the latest and greatest iPhone 16 last month.
But did you know there’s one country where it’s completely banned?
During Apple’s September “It’s Glowtime” event at its Cupertino campus, CEO Tim Cook introduced four new iPhone models on the market.
The tech giant presented its innovations on its AI system, Apple Intelligence, which comes with features like Genmoji, Image Playground for animated creations and a Siri-integrated ChatGPT.
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The announcement also highlighted impressive tech improvements like camera quality upgrades. Not to mention the incredible battery life of the device.
Though Apple reportedly sold around 37 million iPhone 16s during its opening weekend, there was one country where not a single phone was sold.
This country was Indonesia. This is because the iPhone 16 is outright banned there, due to its failure to meet Indonesia’s strict local investment requirements.
For years, Indonesia has mandated a certification that products must include 40% locally sourced parts to attract foreign investment in the country.
However, Apple hasn’t met this with the iPhone 16, nor has it reached its promised investment threshold of $109.75 million.
The agreed deal fell short by $14.75 million.
On 25 October, The Ministry of Industry said in a statement: "iPhone 16s imported by registered importers cannot be sold in the country since PT Apple Indonesia has yet to fulfil its investment commitment to obtain ‘local content level’ certification on innovation."
Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita added: "If there is an iPhone 16 that can operate in Indonesia, that means that I can say, the device is illegal. Do report it to us."
"We, the Ministry of Industry, are yet to be able to issue permits for the iPhone 16 because there are still commitments that Apple must realise," the minister concluded.
Interestingly, Apple isn’t one of the top six brands in Indonesia.
But with over 350 million active smartphone users and 100 million people under age 30, the country remains a valuable market for tech companies.
According to IDC data from May, Oppo and Samsung currently lead the Indonesian smartphone market.
But this hasn't stopped Apple from setting up developer academies in Indonesia since 2018 to meet local regulatory requirements.
According to livemint, Cook visited Indonesia in April earlier this year and met with former President Joko Widodo and his successor, Prabowo Subianto. After their meeting, Cook mentioned that Widodo expressed interest in Apple establishing a manufacturing facility in the country.
So Apple could soon be changing things.