The new Pixel 9 smartphone series at a Made by Google event in Mountain View, California, US. It’s illegal to trade Google Pixel Phones in Indonesia, even though an estimated 22,000 units have already entered the country this year through personal shipments or carry-on items, Kontan reported. — Reuters
Indonesia has prohibited the sale of Pixel phones, saying Alphabet Inc’s Google has failed to meet domestic content requirements, according to a report by local media outlet Kontan.
It’s illegal to trade Google Pixel Phones in Indonesia, even though an estimated 22,000 units have already entered the country this year through personal shipments or carry-on items, Kontan reported, quoting Ministry of Industry spokesperson Febri Hendri Antoni Arief in a Thursday press briefing.
That follows shortly after the government also blocked the sale of iPhone 16 devices in South-East Asia’s largest economy after Apple Inc fell short of its investment commitments. The Cupertino, California-based company has sent a letter seeking a meeting with Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita to discuss the ban, though no date has been set, Arief said.
The move signals that Indonesia is willing to double-down on restrictive policies for foreign players as a means to secure greater investment. Smartphone and tablet makers are required to meet domestic content requirements as high as 40% depending on the scale of their operations in the country. Companies can comply by manufacturing their devices, developing firmware, or investing in innovation in Indonesia.
Apple has taken the rout of putting up developer academies in the country, though its investment stood at just 1.5 trillion rupiah (US$95mil), below its 1.7 trillion rupiah pledge, the industry ministry said. Rival phonemakers like Samsung Electronics Co and Xiaomi Corp have established local factories.
The US$1-trillion Indonesian economy is a potential growth market with over 350 million active mobile phones – much more than the nation’s 270 million population, according to government data. Both Google and Apple did not make it into the country’s top five smartphone brands last year. – Bloomberg
