"Business as usual is no longer an option," Chery said at the chipmaker's annual investor day in London.

Chery did not specify what steps STMicro was mulling or whether it would consider its outright sale. The DPG unit has represented around 15 percent of the group's total turnover.

The executive at the Franco-Itallian chipmaker detailed the struggle the company is having in its older digital set-top box component business as well as the slower market adoption of newer high-definition set-top box products.

Two weeks ago, the company also disclosed an unexpected cancellation and postponment of an important application-specific programme aimed at consumer markets. An STMicro spokesman declined to provide further details.

(Reporting by Eric Auchard; Editing by James Regan)