Medan, Indonesia – Winston, a doctor who lives and works in the capital of North Sumatra province, is a self-proclaimed Apple fan.
Currently the proud owner of an iPhone 15, Winson had been eagerly awaiting the upgrade to the latest model, the iPhone 16, released in September.
Winston, however, has reluctantly given up on the idea since the Indonesian government banned sales of the iPhone 16 and Google Pixel in late October, citing the tech giants’ failure to comply with the country’s Tingkat Komponen Dalam Negeri, or TKDN, policy. which requires phones to source at least 40 percent of their parts locally.
“Indonesian iPhone regulations hit me once, and once was enough,” Winston, who like many Indonesians goes by one name, told Al Jazeera.
While Winston could buy an iPhone overseas to bring home — a relatively common practice that’s legal as long as the phone isn’t resold — he’s been burned by Indonesian regulations before.
“I bought the iPhone 11 in Singapore in 2019 because it was much cheaper than in Indonesia, about $250 cheaper in fact. A round trip ticket to Singapore at that time was only $120. You can fly to Singapore and return to Indonesia on the same day, so it was more cost-effective,” he said.
Winston used the phone without problems for about a year, until the Indonesian government in 2022 issued a regulation forcing all phones to be registered.
Despite registering his phone as required, the device suddenly lost signal one day and would not reconnect to the network, even with a different SIM card, he said.
“I went to a licensed Apple reseller in Medan because I thought there was a problem with the phone, but they just said, ‘There’s nothing we can do or suggest,'” he said.
Filled with an unusable iPhone, Winston, who has had no problems with his current iPhone 15, which he bought through a licensed reseller, sold the device at a loss to a used store during a subsequent visit to Singapore. .
Indonesia, the fourth most populous country with about 280 million inhabitants, is one of the world’s largest smartphone markets.
The archipelago was home to about 190 million smartphone users in 2022, according to market research firm Newzoo.
According to data from the Ministry of Industry, the country imported about 22,000 Google Pixel phones and 9,000 iPhone 16s in 2024, before authorities announced the bans.
Smartphone shipments in Indonesia were dominated by devices made by China’s Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo and South Korea’s Samsung.
Abdul Soleh, a lawyer in Medan, said the prohibitively expensive price of the iPhone 16 for many Indonesians may explain why there had not been more vocal opposition to the ban.
“It’s a real shame because iPhones are very popular and have a high user satisfaction rate in Indonesia,” Soleh told Al Jazeera.
“It would be better if iPhone 16 can be sold in Indonesia because there are many enthusiasts here.”
Khairul Mahalli, head of the North Sumatra Chamber of Commerce, said that while Indonesia’s TKDN policy aims to support local industry, it could have unintended consequences.
“As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO) with a trade industry that operates between countries, it is good to protect our industries, but we also have to have checks and balances,” Mahalli told Al Jazeera.
“One of the issues for the future may be that, if Indonesia blocks sales of certain products, other countries may follow suit and no longer accept sales of Indonesian products in the international market.”
Mahalli said it was the government’s job to find ways to minimize damage to domestic industries that are less drastic than outright bans on foreign products.
“We do not need to completely ban foreign sales, as Indonesia’s market is large enough to accommodate foreign products due to its large population of over 270 million people,” he said.
“We have to see if domestic production can keep up with consumer demand.”
Rio Priambodo, head of the legal and complaints department at the non-profit Consumer Organization of Indonesia, said consumers should think twice about buying the latest iPhone model, especially through illegal resellers in the country.
“The Consumer Organization recommends that consumers should not try to buy the iPhone 16 alone by any means possible if it has been banned by the government,” Priambodo told Al Jazeera.
“If purchases are made illegally, it will eliminate the dimension of consumer protection that all customers should have.”
In a bid to break the deadlock, Apple has pledged to dramatically increase its investment in the country in exchange for the ban being lifted.
In November, the California-based tech giant offered to invest $100 million in the country over two years, a 10-fold increase from an earlier pledge to pour $10 million into building an accessories and components factory in Bandung, Java. Western.
Despite the offer, the Ministry of Industry appeared unmoved.
“From the government’s point of view, of course, we want this investment to be bigger,” Febri Hendri Antoni Arif, the spokesman, said at the time.
On 25 November, Jakarta formally rejected the offer, with Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita saying it did not meet Indonesia’s “principles of fairness”.
He said Apple had invested larger sums in neighboring countries such as Thailand and Vietnam, including $15 billion for manufacturing facilities in the latter.
“Based on the technocratic assessment, the investment amount has not met the figure we consider fair,” he said.
“We want Apple to come back to do business here, but we need a fair solution.”
Meanwhile, Apple fans like Winston face the prospect of being without the latest models for the foreseeable future.
“I understand that the ban is for political reasons because Apple does not want to invest in Indonesia and I stand with my government. But I will never buy an iPhone abroad again,” he said.
