Protectionist moves like iPhone 16 ban could help Indonesia gain investments, but risk backfiring: Analysts

SINGAPORE/JAKARTA: After Indonesia banned the sale of Apple’s new iPhone 16 last month, 34-year-old Christine managed to get her hands on the gadget during a trip to Singapore.

The ban, she says, has only given rise to the “forbidden fruit effect”. 

“I’ve had many people come up to me and ask, ‘where did you buy your phone?’ and ‘how much did it cost you to bring it here?’ Instead of being able to buy the phone (in Indonesia) and benefit Indonesian retailers, people are spending their money overseas,” said Christine, a housewife who declined to provide her full name. 

“I think the ban is misguided,” she added.

On Oct 25, Indonesia officiallybanned the iPhone 16’s sale in the country because Apple had not met the country's rules on use of locally made components. Indonesia requires certain smartphones sold domestically to contain at least 40 per cent of parts manufactured locally. 

A week later on Nov 1, the country banned the sale of Google Pixel phones for the same reason.

Last year, Indonesia blocked the marketplace feature on the popular social media app TikTok, arguing that it was hurting the country’s retail sector with cheap Chinese-made goods. 

The move prompted TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to invest US$1.5 billion in a merger with Indonesian e-commerce giant Tokopedia this year, gaining re-entry into the market. 

On Oct 1, Indonesia similarly banned Chinese e-commerce giant Temu, saying the platform could harm the country’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). 

Indonesia is also mulling a tariff of 100 to 200 per cent on imported goods from China, particularly textiles, clothing, footwear and cosmetics.

Its series of protectionist moves has led observers to caution that while the country