JAKARTA – Indonesia has prohibited the sale of Pixel phones, saying Alphabet’s Google has failed to meet domestic content requirements.

       It is illegal to trade Google Pixel phones in Indonesia, even though an estimated 22,000 units have already entered the country in 2024 through personal shipments or as carry-on items, Ministry of Industry spokesman Febri Hendri Antoni Arief said at an Oct 31 press briefing.

       This follows the government’s earlier move to block the sale of iPhone 16 devices in South-east Asia’s largest economy after Apple fell short of its investment commitments.

       The Cupertino, California-based company has sent a letter seeking a meeting with Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita to discuss the ban, though no date has been set, Mr Arief said.

       “The local-content rule and related policies are made for fairness for all investors that invest in Indonesia, and for creating added value and deepening the industry structure here,” Mr Arief said.

       The government has threatened to take action against online and physical shops caught selling the phones, and deactivate their IMEI identifying numbers so that the devices cannot be registered with local telecommunications providers.

       Phones purchased abroad are allowed for personal use, provided the owner declares it upon entry – and pays hefty fees.

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       The move signals that Indonesia is willing to double down on restrictive policies for foreign players as a means to secure greater investment.

       Smartphone and tablet makers are required to meet domestic content requirements as high as 40 per cent, depending on the scale of their operations in the country. Companies can comply by manufacturing their devices, developing firmware or investing in innovation in Indonesia.

       Apple has taken the route of putting up developer academies in the country, though its investment stood at just 1.5 trillion rupiah (S$126 million), below its 1.7 trillion rupiah pledge, the Ministry of Industry said.

       Rival phone makers like Samsung Electronics and Xiaomi have established local factories.

       The US$1 trillion (S$1.32 trillion) Indonesian economy is a potential growth market with more than 350 million active mobile phones – much more than the nation’s 270-million population, according to government data.

       Both Google and Apple did not make it into the country’s top five smartphone brands in 2023. BLOOMBERG