The chips, which are produced at Freescale's Chandler plant, store data using a magnetic charge instead of an electric current. They could eventually eliminate the need for batteries to operate wireless remotes, thermostats and other devices with programmable memory.

The chips are costlier than conventional memory chips and are now being used in applications where loss of power is unacceptable or where an electric current is not Freescale has sold about 1 million of the chips since 2006. But David Bondurant, Freescale's MRAM product manager, said the company is working to reduce its price and increase uses for the chip, which should boost sales.

On Monday, Freescale said that it will sell MRAM chips to German electronics manufacturer Siemens for its industrial-automation systems.

In February, Freescale signed an agreement with Sweden's Angstrom Aerospace to provide the chips for a research satellite it is building for a Japanese university.