Apple officially plans to invest $1 billion in Indonesia, government says

Apple is going through a tough time in Indonesia, but after extensive investment talks aimed at lifting the iPhone 16 ban, a deal appears imminent. And it will reportedly cost the $1 billion the Indonesian government had been hoping for.

$1 billion investment follows rejected offer of $100 million

After the iPhone 16 was banned from sale in October because the government said Apple was not investing enough in the economy, Apple and Indonesia's leaders have been in talks.

Apple originally planned to invest $109 million in the developer academy, but the government said Apple only spent $95 million.

When the government banned sales of the iPhone 16 in retaliation, Apple offered to increase its manufacturing investment in the country from $10 million to as much as $100 million.

Earlier this week, Indonesia's investment minister expressed hope that Apple would invest not $100 million, but as much as $1 billion in manufacturing.

The minister seemed quite confident that Apple would meet demand, and now it looks like they are on the right track.

Reuters reports:

Tech giant Apple plans to invest $1 billion in a factory in Indonesia that will make components for smartphones and other products, Indonesia's investment minister said on Thursday.

[…]

Investment Minister Rosan Ruslani told reporters that the details of the planned investment were still being discussed, but when asked, he confirmed that it was the expected $1 billion investment he had outlined earlier this week.

“We will discuss some more things with them – we hope to announce everything next week after receiving a written commitment from them,” he said.

Apple has not commented or made any statements, but it appears that an announcement is due soon.

9to5Mac's Take

Assuming the investment minister accurately reflects the talks with Apple, the two sides have apparently reached at least a verbal agreement for a $1 billion investment.

Reuters notes that “Apple currently has no manufacturing capacity in Indonesia, a country of about 280 million people.” So a $1 billion investment would be a huge boost to the economy and to Apple's global manufacturing operations.

What do you think of today's news? Do you expect other countries to follow Indonesia's negotiating playbook? Let us know in the comments.