282 million. The same number of people live on the numerous small and large islands that fall under the Republic of Indonesia. This makes the country the fourth largest in the world and, due to its very young, technology-savvy population, represents a very important market for electronics manufacturers, however, Apple has not been able to compete here since last year. . iPhone 16 and all model variants are subject to an official ban since October. Reason: Apple is said to have failed to implement promised investments in Indonesia. Although initially it was only a small amount of millions, now the struggle has grown to one billion US dollars, which Apple has to invest in Indonesian research and production centers. But even this does not seem to be enough. According to media reports, the latest talks have failed again and the ban on iPhone 16 remains in place.
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Indonesia continues to play poker
The Apple manager responsible for negotiations with the Indonesian economy minister left on Wednesday, Report from financial news agency Bloomberg“A minister’s late U-turn” destroyed an agreement. Nick Ammann, Apple’s vice president of global affairs, was forced to leave without a signed contract. This is all the more surprising because Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto is said to have instructed his ministers and bureaucracy to accept the Apple deal in December.
Amman’s negotiating rival – according to observers, one cannot talk about a negotiating partner – is Industry Minister Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita. They decided to maintain the ban on iPhone 16 despite Apple’s offer last week. Obviously it is also about the internal power struggle within Indonesia’s new government. Kartasasmita continues to insist on “local regulations” that require parts of the iPhone – or its components – to be produced in Indonesia before the sales ban ends.
SSDs for Mac and iPhone: with TB5 from LaCie, with MagSafe from Sandisk“No deadline” for billion-dollar deal.
Apple has recently expanded its offerings significantly. For the said one billion dollars, they wanted to manufacture UWB and Bluetooth tracker AirTag on Batam Island for the first time, employ 1,000 people and also invest a lot of money in local educational institutions. Another portion of the billions of dollars of funding is to flow into another Indonesian plant, this time in Bandung, three hours from Jakarta. There were “other types of accessories” to be made.
However, there has been no mention of the iPhone yet, which clearly irks Kartasasmita. President Prabowo actually asked the Coordinating Minister of Economic Affairs to terminate the contract with Apple. But then the Industry Minister vetoed it. Now further talks on the deal will take place under him. According to Bloomberg, although Amman is no longer in the country, other members of the Apple team are still in Jakarta. The case could drag on even longer, Reuters news agency wrote this week. Accordingly, Kartasasmita said that they belonged to each other “No deadline” for the deal. It was assumed that it was only about its essence. Therefore he sees one billion as “not enough”. Meanwhile, Apple continues to face declining iPhone sales in Indonesia.
(B.Sc.)
Outdoor cell phone Crosscall Stellar-X5 in test
