Good news for moms, dads and uncles in Indonesia today as the Indonesian government has finally allowed the sale of the iPhone 16 series in the country starting April 11. This comes after Indonesia successfully secured a $1 billion investment by Apple in the form of an AirTag assembly factory and also provided training to citizens at the end of April.
As we reported earlier, Indonesia has been adamant about not allowing Apple to enter the world's fourth largest smartphone market because they do not meet the 40% local component requirement. The original $100 million investment was rejected by Indonesia in November last year which saw a larger investment accepted by Vietnam.
Although the iPhone has yet to be assembled in Indonesia, this is seen as Indonesia's success in forcing foreign companies to make large investments into the country before being allowed to operate. With a large population, Indonesia can do it compared to Malaysia.