Indonesia – Just days after Indonesia barred sales of Apple’s iPhone 16, Google’s smartphones have also reportedly been banned from sale in the country due to local content regulations.
According to a Reuters report, Indonesia blocked sales of Google Pixel phones, citing the company’s failure to meet regulations requiring that at least 40% of components in smartphones sold domestically be locally manufactured.
“The local content rule and related policies are made for fairness for all investors that invest in Indonesia and for creating added value and deepening the industry structure here,” Industry Ministry spokesperson Febri Hendri Antoni Arief told local reporters, according to TechCrunch.
“We are pushing these rules so that there’s fairness for all investors in Indonesia. Google’s products have not adhered to the scheme we set, so they can’t be sold here,” Hendri stated.
Google stated that its Pixel phones are not officially distributed in Indonesia, according to Reuters’ report.
This news comes shortly after Indonesia also banned commercial sales of Apple’s iPhone 16 in the country for the same reason.
As with the iPhone 16, consumers in Indonesia can still purchase Google’s Pixel phones from overseas, though the ministry warns they must pay applicable taxes. Additionally, any illicitly sold devices will be deactivated.
