Is the Apple iPhone facing extinction in Indonesia?
You might not be able to legally purchase popular smartphones, like the Apple iPhone, in Indonesia starting in 2017, which is when the government will implement a protectionist policy only allowing phones that have at least 40% of their components built in Indonesia to be sold locally.
The office of the US Trade Representative (USTR) criticized the policy, saying it could increase costs and restrict access to technological advancement.
“The United States shares these concerns, and strongly supports ensuring that information and communications technology, which can be instrumental to economic development, be openly available in Indonesia,” said a USTR spokesman in Washington, as quoted by Reuters yesterday.
According to Reuters, only a third of Indonesians own a smartphone, making the country with a population of around 250 million an attractive market for smartphone giants like the USA’s Apple.
Foxconn, the Taiwanese maker of Apple’s iPhones, signed a deal this month to invest US$ 1 billion in Indonesia to build production, research and development facilities. If this goes through, then Apple shouldn’t have a problem meeting the Indonesian government’s new 40% local content law with future iPhone models.
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