Fox Mobile Group heads for the auction block

The mobile unit at News Corp. (NWSA) has apparently become such a drag on the company that it’s now willing to part ways with the business after four years in the space.
During a call with investors, News Corp. COO Chase Carey said the company is “pursuing a process to potentially sell” the business, which has become a drag on its bottom line. News Corp. first got into the mobile space in 2006 with a 51% purchase of Jamba, a Berlin-based ringtone outfit. Two years later, it bought the remaining interest in the company from VeriSign Inc. (VRSN) to form Fox Mobile Group.
The exact impact the mobile business is having on the company is tough to quantify since it lumps it together in an “other” category that includes its outdoor business and MySpace. But overall News Corp. wrote off $217 million related to its international outdoor and mobile businesses during the quarter ending June 30.
Carey only briefly mentioned the mobile unit during the question-and-answer session, but otherwise had positive things to say about “mobile platforms” in general. Based on his other comments, it would appear that News Corp. is feeling the effects of buyer’s remorse.
“Generally our focus is as I said in the opening comments — we prefer to build businesses rather than buying them. We may be buying sort of a raw start, but we think that has been the foundation on which we’ve built this business. And it’s certainly what we plan to pursue,” he said.
There’s no indication that News Corp. would abandon the mobile space entirely. Perhaps it really is just looking for a fresh start.
Earlier in the call, Carey said “we feel great about our position as leaders in this business and our ability to take advantage of consolidating industry and emerging, exciting new distribution opportunities like mobile platforms.” And later he added, “we’ve led the industry in focusing on dual revenue stream business models and believe mobile platforms will transform the print business.”