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 telephone market.
The Indonesian Ministry of Trade mentioned Google’s telephones can’t be traded till they adjust to guidelines requiring 40% native content material in smartphones bought in Indonesia.
Google should receive native content material certification earlier than resuming gross sales, Trade Ministry spokesperson Febri Hendri Antoni Arief advised 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 trade 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 units, develop firmware, or spend money on native innovation to fulfill Indonesia’s content material guidelines.
The Indonesian rule requires tech corporations to supply 40% of handset and pill elements domestically, a requirement that may be met by means of native manufacturing, firmware growth or direct funding in innovation tasks.
Corporations can fulfill the necessities by means of totally different routes. Samsung and Xiaomi, as an example, have established manufacturing services, whereas Apple has opted to open developer academies.
The regulation, enforced by means of a certification system known as “native content material stage,” varieties a part of Indonesia’s broader industrial coverage to leverage its giant client marketplace for home financial growth. Corporations failing to fulfill these thresholds face gross sales restrictions.
Neither Google nor Apple rank amongst Indonesia’s prime 5 smartphone manufacturers, in keeping with advertising analysis agency Counterpoint.