Indonesia has banned gross sales of Google Pixel smartphones for failing to fulfill home content material necessities, days after blocking Apple’s iPhone 16 in Southeast Asia’s largest cellphone market.
The Indonesian Ministry of Trade stated Google’s telephones can’t be traded till they adjust to guidelines requiring 40% native content material in smartphones offered in Indonesia.
Google should receive native content material certification earlier than resuming gross sales, Trade Ministry spokesperson Febri Hendri Antoni Arief instructed native reporters. “The native content material rule and associated insurance policies are made for equity for all buyers that spend money on Indonesia, and for creating added worth and deepening the business construction right here,” Hendri was quoted as saying.
The ban follows Indonesia’s block on iPhone 16 gross sales final week after Apple failed to fulfill a $95 million funding dedication. Main smartphone makers should manufacture gadgets, develop firmware, or spend money on native innovation to fulfill Indonesia’s content material guidelines.
The Indonesian rule requires tech firms to supply 40% of handset and pill parts domestically, a requirement that may be met via native manufacturing, firmware improvement or direct funding in innovation tasks.
Firms can fulfill the necessities via totally different routes. Samsung and Xiaomi, for example, have established manufacturing services, whereas Apple has opted to open developer academies.
The regulation, enforced via a certification system referred to as “native content material degree,” kinds a part of Indonesia’s broader industrial coverage to leverage its giant shopper marketplace for home financial improvement. Firms failing to fulfill these thresholds face gross sales restrictions.
Neither Google nor Apple rank amongst Indonesia’s high 5 smartphone manufacturers, in keeping with advertising and marketing analysis agency Counterpoint.
