Apple Offers $100 Million Investment to End Indonesia's iPhone 16 Ban

Apple has significantly raised its proposed investment in Indonesia to $100 million, a tenfold increase from its initial $10 million offer reported earlier this month. The new proposal aims to convince Indonesian authorities to lift their ban on iPhone 16 sales.

iPhone 16 Apple Store
According to Bloomberg, the increased investment would be spread over two years. However, Indonesia's Ministry of Industry is reportedly now pushing Apple to direct more of the investment toward smartphone research and development within the country.

Indonesia blocked iPhone 16 sales in October after determining that Apple had not met the country's 40% domestic content requirement for smartphones. The government also claims Apple has invested only 1.5 trillion rupiah ($95 million) through developer academies, falling short of a promised 1.7 trillion rupiah commitment.

The ministry has yet to make a final decision on Apple's enhanced proposal. Recent attempts by Apple executives to meet with industry minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita in Jakarta are said to have been unsuccessful, with the executives meeting a director-general instead.

Indonesia represents a significant market for Apple, with the country's population of 280 million operating some 354 million active mobile phones.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Wednesday January 15, 2025 7:16 am PST by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the "ultra-thin" device. Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" is shaping up to be a mixed bag. Due to its thinness, the device is expected to have some limited specifications compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, no SIM...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
new magsafe charger

Apple Releases Updated MagSafe Charger Firmware

Tuesday January 14, 2025 11:30 am PST by
Apple today released new firmware designed for the 25W MagSafe Charger that is compatible with the iPhone 12 and later and the latest AirPods and Apple Watch models. The updated firmware is version 2A143, up from the 2A138 firmware that the accessory shipped with. In the Settings app, you'll see a different version number than the internal firmware number. The 2024 MagSafe charger was...
MacBook Air 15 Inch Feature Blue

MacBook Air Likely Apple's First Product Update of 2025: What to Expect

Wednesday January 15, 2025 8:49 am PST by
There is a good chance that Apple's first product announcement of 2025 will be updated 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air models with the M4 chip. Last month, Apple released macOS Sequoia 15.2, and in doing so it accidentally confirmed new MacBook Air models are coming this year (unsurprisingly). Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the new MacBook Air models will be announced "earlier" than some...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 8 New Features

Thursday January 9, 2025 5:45 am PST by
While the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. iPhone 17 Pro concept based on rumors Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of January 2025: More aluminum: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Apple Card iPhone 16 Pro Feature

Three Companies Are Now in the Running to Take Over the Apple Card

Thursday January 16, 2025 8:18 am PST by
Apple is in talks with Barclays and Synchrony about becoming its new financial partner for the Apple Card, according to Reuters sources. The report today added that Apple has also been holding discussions with Chase Bank owner JPMorgan since last year, so there are at least three potential companies in the running to take over the Apple Card from current partner Goldman Sachs. Goldman...
Generic iOS 18

iOS 18.3 Coming Soon: Here's What's New

Monday January 13, 2025 5:33 am PST by
iOS 18.3 is currently in beta for developers and public beta testers. So far, the upcoming iPhone software update is very minor in scope. Below, we outline what is new in iOS 18.3 so far. The only potential new feature coming to iPhones with iOS 18.3 so far is robot vacuum support in the Home app, but this functionality is not yet live. Apple is laying the groundwork for the feature,...

Top Rated Comments

SAIRUS Avatar
9 weeks ago
So it’s a bribe…
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mikebenton Avatar
9 weeks ago
7 years ago it was the same with iPhone 6/7, but the threshold was 30% and Apple invested $44M. The Indonesian government is trying to make a deal that's best for its citizens. I guess I can't blame them. It's an investment that has potential to earn a return - it's not just a donation. Also, their government isn't making requirements around back-door access to user's data. It's the 4th most populous region on the planet...you have to pay to play. If it was a tariff, that would just be money going to the government. That's not what this is.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
9 weeks ago
Really sounds like a shakedown.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Stiksi Avatar
9 weeks ago

Imagine if every country worked liked this. Prices on everything would skyrocket. This is nothing more than Indonesia shaking down Apple because they can.

And Apple doesn’t dodge taxes. Pay the legally allowed minimum, yes. Work and lobby to make its tax bill as low as possible, also yes. Dodge, no.
I think it's safe to call it tax dodging / evasion when the on-off largest company in the world has a smaller tax percentage than your average pensioner. Sure, it's not illegal according to the laws they lobbied (=paid) for but it's also not right. Many global issues could be solved quickly if every top company paid their fair share.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
antiprotest Avatar
9 weeks ago
This is extortion, no doubt. But they can't even do it right. It's kind of weak getting this amount from Apple. They should send people to learn from the EU. Or perhaps this is just a first attempt and there will be many more to come once they learn how to make companies pay. Kind of like ransomware.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
foobarbaz Avatar
9 weeks ago

Maybe once a few countries are on the chopping block the bully EU will start to calm down.
You really think all those countries want iPhones more than Apple wants cash? You think people will riot and overthrow the government over losing iPhones before investors riot and overthrow Tim Cook over losing billions in revenue?

Those countries have everything to win and pretty much nothing to lose. And it's not like the US itself is acting any differently (see e.g. banning Huawei, increasing tariffs), when it has the leverage.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)