Yahoo Is The Latest Tech Company To Exit China Over Business Issues
As of November 1, Yahoo has officially exited China and closed down its remaining services to users in the country. The business move isn't a surprise given Yahoo's slow move away from the Chinese market over the past several years, including previously shutting down access to its news and email services.
Yahoo, once a major player in the tech industry, has seen its relevance and demand for its services dwindle over the years. It's rare for someone to seek out a new Yahoo email account, for example, when more popular and robust alternatives like Gmail are available. The company was previously purchased by Verizon, which more recently sold it off to Apollo Global Management.
Though China has never been the most friendly market for foreign business, the country has made drastic changes to regulations over the past several months that make life harder for tech and gaming companies, among others.
It was only last month that Microsoft revealed its plan to shut down its LinkedIn service in China due to the increase in "compliance requirements," as well as a "significantly more challenging operating environment." Instead, Microsoft will release a different standalone jobs platform in China later this year that scrubs all of the social aspects found on LinkedIn, including the ability to share posts.
In August, China's ruling party revealed plans to tighten regulations over the next five years, including ones targeting tech innovation and what it calls monopolistic behavior. Though the Chinese government didn't have specifics to reveal at the time, it made it clear this move would expand its crackdown on private companies, citing everything from an interest in the "public good" to national security.
Beyond the tech industry, China has also expanded its gaming regulations targeting youth, restricting the number of hours they can play games during the week and weekends, in addition to tight rules about the kind of content allowed in games and whether they can be monetized. This may be the reason Epic Games and Tencent revealed earlier this week that it is shutting down Fortnite in China later this month.