Apple will be allowed to sell its latest smartphone in one of Asia’s largest markets after the US tech giant reached a deal with the Indonesian government following “tough” negotiations spanning five months.
The government in October prohibited the marketing and sale of the iPhone 16 over the tech titan’s failure to meet regulations requiring 40 per cent of mobile phones be made from local parts.
As part of a memorandum of understanding signed on Wednesday, Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita said Apple had pledged to establish a semiconductor research and development facility in Indonesia — “the first of its kind in Asia”.
Apple CEO Tim Cook during a visit to Jakarta in April last year. (Reuters: Willy Kurniawan)
A statement from the Ministry of Industry said it had approved Apple’s investment and innovation plan spanning 2025 to 2028.
Under the plan, the company will build two other facilities: one in the city of Bandung in West Java to manufacture accessories and, as previously reported by the ABC, another in Batam near Singapore worth $US150 million ($238 million) to produce AirTags.
AirTags are tracking devices that Apple markets as being used to locate a user’s belongings such as a wallet or keys.
Investment and Downstreaming Minister Rosan Roeslani said in mid-January that the Batam facility was scheduled for completion by early 2026.
Apple ‘can’t wait’ to sell iPhones in South-East Asia’s biggest market
The lengthy negotiations with Apple were “tough” according to Mr Kartasasmita, who was quoted by
