Apple May Get Approval to End iPhone 16 Ban in This Country After USD 1 Billion Investment….

The ban on the sale of American devices maker Apple’s iPhone 16 in Indonesia may soon be lifted. Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto has approved an investment of one billion dollars by the company. Apple has invested heavily in manufacturing in some countries like Vietnam.

Bloomberg’s report quoted sources with knowledge of the matter as saying that the approval given by Prabowo is based on Apple’s plan to increase investment. The company’s suppliers will set up a plant to manufacture AirTags on Batam Island in Indonesia. About 1,000 people can get employment in this plant. Batam is about 45 minutes away from Singapore via ferry. It is a free-trade zone that exempts companies from value-added and luxury taxes as well as import duties.

Apple also plans to set up a plant to make accessories in Bandung, Indonesia. Recently, the company’s investment proposal of about $100 million was rejected by the Indonesian government. The population of Indonesia is about 28 crores. This is one of the big markets for the company. Indonesia had banned the sale of Apple’s iPhone 16 due to non-compliance with local content rules. In some other countries the company has followed such rules. India’s share in the company’s manufacturing is also continuously increasing. Apple’s iPhone manufacturing in the country has reached $10 billion (about Rs 84,000 crore) between April and October of the current financial year. The Central Government’s Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme plays an important role in the increase in Apple’s manufacturing. The company’s exports from the country have also increased.

In the last four years the company has created approximately 1,75,000 employment opportunities in the country. The company’s target is to achieve manufacturing worth $18 billion in the current financial year. The government has planned to give incentives worth five billion dollars (about Rs 42,221 crore) to companies in the electronics sector for local manufacturing of components from laptops to smartphones. This may reduce the supply from China.