Yahoo has officially exited China and shut down its remaining services for Chinese users as of November 1. The business decision isn’t surprising, given Yahoo’s gradual exit from the Chinese market over the last few years, including the shutdown of its news and email services.
Yahoo, a once-dominant player in the technology industry, has seen its relevance and demand for its services dwindle over time. When more widespread and robust alternatives like Gmail are available, it’s rare for someone to open a new Yahoo email account. Verizon had previously purchased the company, which it later sold to Apollo Global Management.
Though China has never been the most welcoming market for foreign companies, it has made significant regulatory changes in recent months that have made life more difficult for tech and gaming companies, among others.
Microsoft only announced its intention to shut down its LinkedIn service in China last month, citing increased “compliance requirements” and a “significantly more challenging operating environment.” Instead, later this year, Microsoft will launch a new standalone job platform in China that removes all of LinkedIn’s social features, including the ability to share posts.
In August, China’s ruling party announced plans to tighten regulations over the next five years, including ones aimed at tech innovation and what it refers to as monopolistic behavior. Though the Chinese government did not provide specifics at the time, it made it clear that this move would broaden its crackdown on private companies, citing everything from the “public good” to national security as justifications.
Aside from the tech industry, China has tightened its gaming regulations to target youth, limiting the number of hours they can play games during the week and weekends, the type of content that can be included in games, and whether they can be monetized. This could be why Epic Games and Tencent announced earlier this week that Fortnite would be shut down in China later this month.
Source: barrons | linkedin | globalpolicywatch
