Yahoo! Indonesia Plans to Downsize, Indonesian Tech Industry Players Keep Optimistic

The Yahoo! downsizing issue seems to have successfully driven people in tech industry mad. Although it’s not actually the first time Yahoo! plans of doing such thing, the news still shocked many.

The news has actually been in the line since couple of months ago. It’s said that Yahoo! plans to reduce its spending on operational stuffs in Asia and focus its business in the U.S. The giant also looks to center its operation in Southeast Asia to Singapore, the company’s current regional office.

Despite the fact that Yahoo! decreases its operation in the region, Indonesian internet industry players remain positive and believe that the downsizing is merely a part of Marissa Mayer’s new global business strategy. Budi Putra, who resigned as Yahoo!’s Country Editor in May 2011, tweeted, "The closure of Yahoo! office rumor doesn’t justify that Indonesian digital industry is no longer attractive. It’s merely Marissa Mayer’s new global strategy. While Yahoo is still struggling on dealing with revenue, this restructuring plan seems to be based on efficiency: a powerful shortcut."

In line with Putra, Roy Simangunsong, former Yahoo! Indonesia Country Manager (2011-2014), said, “I am of the belief that this decision of closing Yahoo! Indonesia’s operation is pure business.” Simangunsong, who has just been appointed as Okezone.com’s CEO, further added that it is most likely that the Yahoo! Indonesia’s revenue has failed to keep the Yahoo! SEA’s board amused.

The fact that almost all research institutions predict that the future of Indonesian digital advertisement industry would shine the brightest among other Southeast Asian countries should be taken as an opportunity by both local and global players. ”The  Indonesian market is very flowering right now, we picture ourselves having a huge business growth,” Ben Soebiakto of KapanLagi Networks, a local competitor to Yahoo! OMG, stated.

In the end, it’s quite obvious. All players of Indonesian internet industry aren’t that worried to learn that Yahoo! is planning to downsize its business in Indonesia. It is Yahoo!, or in this case Marissa Mayer, who actually misses the huge potential that Indonesian digital industry has.