Just a few days ago, Indonesia banned the sale of the iPhone 16, claiming that Apple had not met local production requirements and had only invested $95 million out of the $108.7 million it had promised in Indonesia. Now, Google is facing the same problem. It has banned the sale of Google Pixel devices in Indonesia for similar reasons.
There are no reports that Google has missed out on investments in the country, but to catch up, Google will need to ensure that at least 40% of the components of its devices sold in Indonesia are Indonesian-sourced. These requirements have been in place since 2017 and were reportedly introduced to protect local companies and be fair for all investors.
Other big players such as Samsung and Xiaomi have managed to comply with the rules by setting up manufacturing facilities in Indonesia. These factories rely on local materials, which allow the companies to meet the requirements and obtain the same “Local Content Level Certificate” that Google needs to continue selling in the country. Given its validity, Google may consider doing the same.
Indonesia is the fourth most populous country with a population of over 283 million, so Apple and Google should act quickly to properly manage the country’s population and growing smartphone market. Currently, Indonesians can only buy these phones abroad, which could result in additional costs and discourage people from buying.
GSMArena reported that there were only 22,000 Pixel smartphones in the country before the ban. So Google’s numbers are likely to remain the same for some time to come, especially since, as Statista points out, Google’s market share is tiny compared to competitors such as Oppo’s roughly 17.01% and Samsung’s 16.43%.
