Image source: Apple official website
Recently, Apple's iPhone 16 series models have been released for nearly a month, but have not yet entered the Indonesian market. The Indonesian Minister of Industry stated that the main reason is that the iPhone 16 has not yet passed TKDN certification.
He stated that Apple had previously obtained the required certification, but the certificate has now expired and Apple has failed to fulfill its investment commitments. The Indonesian government requires Apple to update its content requirements for certification and further invest in the country, otherwise the iPhone 16 will not be able to be sold locally.
According to the data, Apple has previously obtained TKDN certification, which involves the use of domestically produced components in goods and services in Indonesia, and requires a "localization rate" of at least 40% to pass the certification. The extension of TKDN certification is still awaiting further investment from Apple, "said the Indonesian Minister of Industry, who stated that Apple has not fulfilled its promised investment amount." Apple's actual investment amount is only 1.48 trillion Indonesian rupiah (approximately 671 million yuan), which is lower than its promised total investment of 1.71 trillion yuan
On October 11th, the overseas version of e-commerce platform Pinduoduo Temu was also banned in Indonesia. Indonesia's Minister of Information and Communications, Budi Ali Setiadi, stated that Indonesia has requested that Google and Apple block the Chinese fast fashion e-commerce platform Temu in their app stores to prevent it from being downloaded. Setiadi stated that Temu's business model directly links consumers with Chinese factories to significantly reduce prices, which is' vicious competition '. This move aims to protect the country's small and medium-sized enterprises from the impact of cheap products provided by Temu, a subsidiary of Pinduoduo.
As early as October last year, TikTok e-commerce was also banned in Indonesia due to a sudden ban on social e-commerce, which prohibited e-commerce transactions on social media. In the end, TikTok spent $840 million (6 billion yuan) to acquire 75.01% of Tokopedia, an Indonesian e-commerce platform under GoTo, completing its return.
But unlike TikTok and Temu, as a company that integrates design and sales, Apple's product sales volume and market share are particularly important.
In the first half of 2024, the iPhone was beaten back by domestic brands in Greater China, and its sales ranking even dropped out of the top five. The 2024 Apple Autumn Conference held on September 10th was originally seen as a hope for Apple's turnaround, but Huawei's world's first triple folding screen phone Mate XT, the Extraordinary Master, was released on the same day, making the iPhone 16, which lacked obvious novelty, appear mediocre.
Shortly after the launch of the new iPhone, Barclays Bank analysts Tim Long and George Wang recently pointed out in a report that a survey of the iPhone 16 series supply chain found that Apple may have reduced its iPhone 16 series production in the fourth quarter due to lower than expected demand. Parts procurement data shows that the iPhone 16 series has cut approximately 3 million orders.
If Apple cannot regain TKDN certification in Indonesia, Indonesian consumers will face significant difficulties in purchasing the iPhone 16, such as having to turn to Apple stores in Malaysia, Singapore, and other places. This will also further affect the sales of iPhone 16 in the Indonesian market, following Apple's decline in market share in Greater China.
