Indonesia ’s iPhone 16 Ban Sends the Wrong Message

(Bloomberg Opinion) — Even the world’s fourth most-populous country, which has more active cell phones than people, seems to be no match for Apple Inc.

Indonesia’s ban on the sale of iPhone 16s after the company failed to meet local investment requirements didn’t faze investors. Shares of the world’s most-valuable company were largely unchanged by the news, which makes sense given the smaller footprint it has in the emerging market. And the deck was already unevenly stacked: Indonesia’s entire GDP is a little more than a third of Apple’s market cap.