Freescale’s mobile chip business for sale

Texas-based chip maker, Freescale, has put its mobile phone chip division up for sale.

The company is seeking a buyer or partner for the division so that it can focus on making chips for computer networks and cars.

In a statement, Freescale said the sale is intended to ’sharpen’ the company’s ’strategic focus’ on high growth markets.

Freescale has historically supplied chips to its former parent company, handset maker Motorola, a troubled vendor that has seen a dramatic decline in handset sales in recent quarters.

A failure to sign up new customers, spiralling debt and few liquid assets have seriously damaged Freescale’s future prospects.

CEO Rich Beyer said his company’s failure to drum up new mobile chip customers has caused it to fall behind competitors.

He added that to recover its position as a leader in the mobile chip market would take several years and a high level of investment - time and money that the company doesn’t have available.

Beyer believes that the company can best improve its fortunes by focusing on markets that it already leads, as well as markets that are seeing high levels of growth.

Despite Beyer’s gloomy outlook, sales at the mobile chip unit have grown on year, up 41% in the second quarter to $337 million.