Reuters reports that Apple could resume selling iPhone 16 smartphones in Indonesia after signing the contract, the industry ministry said at a press conference Wednesday.
It was lifted five months after Indonesia blocked US iPhone makers from selling iPhone 16 phones in Indonesia.
In December, Apple pledged to invest $1 billion in its first factory in Indonesia. The facility manufactures components for smartphones and other Apple devices. Indonesia rejected Apple’s $100 million investment proposal in November due to insufficient funding to approve the sale of its smartphone.
Indonesia’s Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasmita said the US technology giant is in the process of obtaining a local content certificate to sell domestic devices.
Apple did not immediately respond to a TechCrunch request for comments.
Last year, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited Indonesia and said the company would explore manufacturing possibilities within the country.
In its home country, Apple announced this week that it would invest $500 billion over the next four years in luxury manufacturing, engineering and education, with a special focus on artificial intelligence and chip creation for AI workloads.
In recent years, Apple has broadened its supply chain and reduced its dependence on China. The iPhone 16 is currently manufactured in Brazil, India and China, but a variety of AirPods models are assembled in Vietnam.
Jakarta has banned the sale of Google Pixel phones from Alphabet due to similar issues. Google didn’t use enough local components in October. According to the report, Indonesia’s top smartphone brands for the third quarter of 2024 are OPPO, Xiaomi, Transsion, Samsung and Vivo.