Indonesia Bans Sales Of Google Smartphones After iPhone 16 (image@Pixabay)

Jakarta, Indonesia: Indonesia said it banned sales of smartphones made by Google. The move is said to be due to rules requiring the use of locally manufactured components. The new announcement came days after blocking sales of tech giant Apple’s iPhone 16 for the same reason.

Customers can buy Google Pixels overseas, but the phones manufactured inside the country will be branded as illegal and might be deactivated.

Google did not immediately respond to the announcement.

Also Read: Google Accused Of Secretly Undermining Microsoft’s Cloud Business Azure

The company blocked sales of Google Pixel phones because it had not met the rules that necessitate certain smartphones sold domestically to contain at least 40 percent of parts manufactured locally.

“We are pushing these rules so that there’s fairness for all investors in Indonesia,” Febri Hendri Antoni Arief, the Industry Ministry spokesperson, told the media. “Google’s products have not adhered to the scheme we set, so they can’t be sold here,” he added.

He said consumers can buy Google Pixel phones overseas, so long as they pay the necessary taxes. He further added that the country would consider deactivating the phones that are illicitly sold.

The block comes a week after Indonesia said it had blocked the sales of iPhone 16 domestically, also for not meeting local content rules.

Also Read: Russia Fines Google With $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00…

It is to be noted that Google and Apple are not among the top smartphone makers in the country. The top two smartphone makers in the first quarter of 2024 were OPPO (China) and Samsung (South Korea), said research firm IDC.

Companies usually increase the use of domestic components to meet such rules through partnerships with local suppliers or by sourcing parts domestically. Jakarta has a huge, tech-savvy population, making the Southeast Asian nation a key target market for tech-related investment.