Jamba, the mobile content business behind the annoying Crazy Frog ringtone, could be placed on the market.
Owner News Corporation is presently looking into the sale options for Jamba, reportedly with the assistance of advisers at JP Morgan. A company spokesman said it could prove difficult to sell the business for the £251m News Corp paid for it in 2006, however.
The popularity of ringtones has waned since 2005 when the Crazy Frog tune kept Coldplay from the top of the music charts.
Sales have been affected by the rise of smart phones "which have eaten into graphics and ringtones through app stores", according to Gareth Turpin at digital intelligence company comScore.
Likely interested parties are thought to include large European players Vodafone, Telecom Italia and Telefonica. Other potential buyers include Spanish digital entertainment firm Zed; Flycell, part of the Italian mobile media business Acotal Group; and the Italian mobile media company Buongiorno.
Jamba or Jamster, as its known in the US, is a New York-based mobile content provider, which operates from Berlin, Germany.
News Corp has offloaded other digital media businesses recently including Rotten Tomatoes and Photobucket. It plans to focus on its digital business connected to MySpace in an effort to compete with Facebook.
