Medan, Indonesia – Winston, a doctor who lives and works in the capital of North Sumatra province, is a self-proclaimed Apple fan.
Now the proud owner of an iPhone 15, Winson was looking forward to upgrading to the latest model, the iPhone 16, released in September.
However, Winston said the Indonesian government banned sales of the iPhone 16 and Google Pixel in late October, citing the tech giant’s failure to comply with the country’s Tingkat Kamponen Dalam Negeri (TKDN) policy. I have since reluctantly given up on this idea. This requires phones to have at least 40 percent of their components locally sourced.
“Indonesia’s regulations regarding iPhones shocked me once, but once was enough,” Winston, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told Al Jazeera.
Winston could have bought an iPhone overseas and brought it home, which is a relatively common practice and legal as long as the phone is not resold, but he has been burned by Indonesia’s regulations before. I’ve been there before.
“I bought my iPhone 11 in Singapore in 2019 because it was much cheaper than in Indonesia, about $250 cheaper in fact. At the time, a round-trip ticket to Singapore was only $120.00 on the same day. It was more cost-effective as I could fly to Singapore and return to Indonesia,” he said.
Winston had been using the phone without any problems for about a year, until the Indonesian government issued regulations in 2022 requiring all phones to be registered.
He said that despite registering his phone as required, one day the device suddenly lost signal and was unable to reconnect to the network, even with a different SIM card.
“I thought there was a problem with my phone, so I went to an Apple authorized retailer in Medan, but they just said, ‘There’s nothing we can do or suggest,'” he said. Ta.
Winston, who had an iPhone that no longer worked, had no issues with his current iPhone 15, which he had purchased through an authorized reseller, but later sold the device at a second-hand store at a loss during a visit to Singapore. Sold.
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country with approximately 280 million people and one of the world’s largest smartphone markets.
According to market research firm Newzoo, the archipelago was home to about 190 million smartphone users in 2022.
The country imported about 22,000 Google Pixel phones and 9,000 iPhone 16s in 2024 before authorities announced the ban, according to Industry Ministry data.
The majority of smartphone shipments to Indonesia were made by China’s Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo, and South Korea’s Samsung.
Medan lawyer Abdul Soleh said the iPhone 16’s prohibitively high price for many Indonesians may explain why there was no vocal opposition to the ban.
“It’s really unfortunate because the iPhone is very popular in Indonesia and user satisfaction is high,” Soleh told Al Jazeera.
“It would be even better if we could sell iPhone 16 in Indonesia because there are a lot of enthusiasts in Indonesia.”
North Sumatra Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Hail Mahali said Indonesia’s TKDN policy was aimed at supporting local industry, but could have unintended consequences.
“As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), where we have trade industries between countries, it’s good to protect our industries, but we also need to put checks and balances in place,” Mahri told Al Jazeera. .
“One of the future problems is that if Indonesia blocks the sale of certain products, other countries may follow suit and not allow Indonesian products to be sold on the international market.”
Mr Mahali said it was the government’s job to find ways to minimize damage to local industry that were not as severe as a complete ban on foreign products.
“There is no need to completely ban foreign sales because Indonesia’s market is large enough to accept foreign products due to its large population of over 270 million people,” he said.
“We need to consider whether local production can keep up with consumer demand.”
Rio Pulianbodo, head of legal and complaints department at the nonprofit Indonesian Consumer Organization, said consumers should think twice about buying the latest iPhone models, especially through illegal resellers in the country. .
“Consumer organizations advise consumers not to try to purchase the iPhone 16 by any means if it is banned by the government,” Pulianbod told Al Jazeera.
“If a purchase is made illegally, the consumer protection aspect that every customer should have is lost.”
To break the impasse, Apple has pledged to significantly increase investment in the country in exchange for lifting the ban.
In November, the California-based technology giant offered to invest $100 million over two years in the country, an earlier move that included $10 million to build an accessories and parts factory in Bandung, West Java. The amount has been increased 10 times from the previous promise.
Despite this offer, the Ministry of Industry seemed unmoved.
“From the government’s point of view, of course we want this investment to grow even more,” Febri Hendry Antoni Arif, the spokesperson for the country, said at the time.
On November 25, Jakarta formally rejected the proposal, with Industry Minister Agus Gumiwan Kartasasmita stating that the proposal did not meet Indonesia’s “principle of fairness.”
He said Apple is making even more significant investments in neighboring countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, including $15 billion for a manufacturing facility in Vietnam.
“Based on the engineer’s assessment, the investment amount does not meet what we consider to be a fair number,” he said.
“We want Apple to be able to resume operations here, but we need a fair resolution.”
Meanwhile, Apple fans like Mr. Winston face the prospect of making do without buying the latest models for some time.
“I understand that the ban is for political reasons and I support the government because Apple does not want to invest in Indonesia. However, I will never buy an iPhone abroad again. No,” he said.
