Indonesia bans the sale of Google Pixel phones
Marketplace Morning Report
Marketplace
4.5 • 928 Ratings
🗓️ 1 November 2024
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
From the BBC World Service: A ban on Google’s flagship Pixel smartphone in Indonesia comes because the company failed to meet requirements for certain smartphones sold domestically to contain at least 40% of parts manufactured locally. Plus, Hello Kitty turns 50, and the landmark birthday also marks an uptick in the fortunes of Sanrio, the company behind the character.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you're using a Google Pixel phone, sorry, but Indonesia has you on block. Hello, you're listening to the Marketplace Morning Report. And we're live from the BBC World Service. I'm Leanna Byrne. Good morning. Indonesia has banned the sale of Google's pixel phones after the company failed to meet local content requirements. It's just days after the country blocked |
| 0:22.2 | Apple's iPhone 16 from its market. And we've got the BBC's Izzy Greenfield covering this one. |
| 0:27.8 | Izzy, what's the backstory here? So this comes down to Indonesia's local content rule. They're |
| 0:33.5 | enforcing a law that requires at least 40% of any smartphone sold in Indonesia to be locally sourced, |
| 0:40.1 | which can mean anything from hardware manufacturing to software development or direct investments in local tech projects. |
| 0:46.1 | It's interesting. So it's not just about the phones themselves, but the investments behind them. |
| 0:51.3 | But why target big names like Google and Apple? Well, it seems Indonesia is using |
| 0:56.6 | its huge consumer market to demand more from these tech giants. Both companies missed the mark in |
| 1:02.1 | meeting this 40% threshold. Apple had actually pledged $95 million in local investment, but apparently |
| 1:08.8 | came up a little short. Meanwhile, Google hasn't yet |
| 1:12.3 | secured the required certification that would allow them to keep selling their pixel phones. |
| 1:16.7 | Got it. So what exactly does it mean for consumers in Indonesia? Are people there already |
| 1:21.6 | using these phones or will this block new buyers only? Great question. Google pixels are illegal |
| 1:27.2 | to sell there now, even though |
| 1:28.5 | it's estimated around 22,000 units have already entered Indonesia through unofficial channels. |
| 1:34.3 | For anyone looking to buy one locally, it's not going to be possible until Google meets the |
| 1:38.6 | requirements. On top of that, the government's threatening to deactivate the device identification |
| 1:43.9 | numbers on |
| 1:44.8 | uncertified phones, so they won't work with local networks. People can still bring them in for |
| 1:49.2 | personal use, but they'll pay steep fees. How are other smartphone makers handling this local |
| 1:54.1 | content rule? Have they faced similar bands? Some, yes, but companies like Samsung and |
| 1:59.4 | Xiaomi have sidestepped this issue by setting up local |
... |
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