Indonesia might lift its iPhone ban for $1 billion

The iPhone 16 might just finally be coming to Indonesia. The island nation has reached an agreement with Apple to lift the country's ban on iPhone 16 sales, Bloomberg reports, citing familiar sources. Apple must invest $1 billion in Indonesia and train locals in the company's research and development to create their own products.

Indonesia banned the iPhone 16 in October, following Apple's failure to meet its 1.71 trillion rupiah ($109 million) local infrastructure investment by about $15 million. Since then, Apple has pledged more and more money to overturn it. First, the company offered $10 million, before raising it to $100 million. By December, Indonesia’s investment minister, Rosan Roeslani, reported Apple had increased that number to the current sum of $1 billion. 

Yet, the government continued to push, rejecting the $1 billion and pushing for further benefits, such as the addition of R&D training. Apple would also create a plant on Batam to make AirTags, eventually equating to 20 percent of the world's production. Indonesia's industry minister, Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita, also recently announced that Apple paid a $10 million debt it owed for violations between 2020 to 2023.

Despite the reported agreement, nothing is certain until the phones start being sold. However, Indonesia has made an impressive push from a payment deficit to an extra $1 billion and training. 

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