Yahoo! (NASDAQ: YHOO) has completed its exit from the South Korean search market, effective Dec. 31, according to the Yonhap News Agency. Plans to close the Korean business were first announced in Yahoo's corporate blog in early October, with the company saying leaving Korea by year's end was part of a strategy to "streamline operations and focus our resources on building a stronger global business that's set up for long-term growth and success."
Yahoo! was once a dominant presence in the technologically advanced Korean market. However, the Yonhap report says that according to research firm KoreanClick, Yahoo! currently accounts for less than 1% of Korea's search market.
Yahoo!'s exit from South Korea comes on the heels of similar departures or announced departures by Google's (GOOG +1.71%) Motorola Mobility unit and HTC. Like Yahoo!, both Motorola Mobility and HTC consistently lost market share to local companies Samsung and LG.
