Indonesia bans sales of Google's Pixel smartphones
Reading time 1 min Christian Fernsby ▼ | November 1, 2024Indonesia said it has banned sales of smartphones made by Alphabet’s Google owing to rules requiring the use of locally manufactured components, days after blocking sales of tech giant Apple’s iPhone 16 for the same reason.
Indonesia Pixel smartphone
“We are pushing these rules so that there’s fairness for all investors in Indonesia,” Febri Hendri Antoni Arief, spokesman for the country’s Ministry of Industry, said on Thursday. “Google’s products have not adhered to the scheme we set, so they can’t be sold here.”
Febri said consumers can buy Google’s Pixel smartphone overseas, so long as they pay the necessary taxes, adding that the country would consider deactivating the handsets that are illicitly sold.
The ban comes a week after Indonesia said it had blocked domestic sales of the iPhone 16, which also did not meet the 40 percent local part requirement. ■