In an apparent concession to frustrated shareholders, Mayer also said Yahoo’s board will mull “strategic alternatives” that could result in the sale of all the company’s Internet operations.
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She also argued the free smartphones remain company-owned property, much like the desks and computers are, saying without them, Yahoo wouldn’t have been able to build a $1 billion mobile advertising business.
Yahoo says it will explore “strategic alternatives” for its struggling Internet businesses including getting rid of services and assets that CEO Marissa Mayer has decided are not worth continued investment of time and money.
Yahoo Inc is cutting its workforce by 15 percent, meaning it will reduce the number of its employees to about 9,000 people by the end of 2016.
The firm will close offices in Dubai, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Madrid, and Milan.
Yahoo’s restructuring plan, which was announced on Tuesday, includes paring down of its products, closing five offices, shifting more of its resources to mobile search, and the selling of non-strategic assets like patents and real estate.
Yahoo! announced plans to narrow its focus, lower costs and work to improve its revenues and profitability, after reporting a net loss for the last quarter of 2015.
Close up of Yahoo Careers main page on the web browser.
Investors were not immediately impressed, sending Yahoo shares down 1.2% after hours.
Mayer, a former rising star at Google who helped that company eclipse Yahoo, defended her performance.
In the rejig of its business, it will focus on three main consumer platforms, search, mail and blogging platform Tumblr, and four “digital content strongholds” in the form of News, Sports, Finance and Lifestyle. Yahoo is also expected to announce wide-ranging job cuts, as Business Insider first reported. She added that this meant focusing on Yahoo’s mobile, video, social and “native offerings” to help drive online advertising revenue.
Included in Yahoo’s “smaller product portfolio”, Tumblr, an acquisition made under Mayer in 2013.
The tech company’s quarterly results Tuesday were broadly in line with analysts’ expectations.
However, Yahoo chairman Maynard Webb said that the company would consider other ways to improve its position, tacitly acknowledging that a sale could be on the cards if the right offer came along.
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Yahoo shares have declined 34 percent over the a year ago, down 12 percent in 2016.
