Overview

iPhone 16 Ban In Indonesia refers to the Indonesian government's ban on Apple's iPhone 16 model in the country after Apple demanded a 50-year tax break in the country. The ban drew memes mocking Apple for asking for a Tax Holiday.

Background

On October 11th, 2024, CNBC Indonesia^[1] published an article titled "Apple Minta 50 Tahun Tak Bayar Pajak di RI, Begini Nasib iPhone 16" (Eng. Apple Asked 50 Years of Free Tax in Indonesia, Here is the Current Fate of iPhone 16). In the article, the former Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Budi Arie Setiadi, revealed the reason Apple decided to build the factory in Vietnam instead of Indonesia. He said that Apple demanded a "Tax Holiday" for 50 years in the country.

On October 27th, 2024, 9to5mac^[2] published an article titled "iPhone 16 now banned in Indonesia over Apple’s unfulfilled investment commitments." Indonesia decided to ban the sale of iPhone 16s after Apple failed to fulfill its own investment promise of 109 million US dollars in Indonesia's infrastructure, only receiving 95 million sollars instead. iPhone 16s already in Indonesia will be considered illegal.

Online Reactions

The news quickly became popular around the globe in discussions and memes. For example, on October 27th, 2024, Reddit^[3] user a_Ninja_boy uploaded a post about the ban to the /r/gadgets. The post received more than 7,600 upvotes in one week.

On October 29th, 2024, Facebook^[4] user Ay uploaded to the "Perkumpulan Orang Santai: Total" group an edit of SpongeBob and Patrick from SpongeBob SquarePants with disappointed reactions with the caption, "The hotel managers find out the iPhone 16 can't be sold in Indonesia." This refers to Indonesian jokes about how hotel profits skyrocket when Apple releases a new iPhone. The post received over 3,600 reactions in one week (shown below).

On October 30th, 2024, Facebook^[5] page "OTae" uploaded a SpongeBob SquarePants edit depicting the deal between Apple and Indonesia. The post received over 2,100 reactions in one week (shown below).

On the same day, Facebook^[6] page "Berita Teknologi, Terbaru" uploaded a Wojak edit depicting Apple asking Indonesia to give them 50 years of free tax, while Indonesia, depicted as Patrick, replied "Do you think I give a shit about it?" The post received over 8,000 reactions in one week (shown below).

Search Interest

External References