June 21 (Bloomberg) -- Qualcomm Inc., the world's second- largest maker of chips for mobile phones, said Major League Baseball will use its technology to sell merchandise on wireless devices.

The U.S. baseball league will be able to directly sell hats, jerseys, phone-screen wallpaper and ring tones to consumers through a new Qualcomm service called BrandXtend, said Mitch Oliver, a marketing executive for the San Diego-based company.

The service is part of Qualcomm's Brew, a system that helps programmers develop software for mobile phones. The company aims to increase shopping via phones by making transactions simpler and clarifying prices. Consumers have had problems with billing while buying ring tones and other services, analysts say.

``People have been stung in the past,'' said Nick Lane, an analyst for research firm Informa PLC. ``My belief is that it's been too complex, and people are wary of pricing.''

Large companies also have been reluctant to advertise on mobile phones because of the confusion about pricing, Oliver said. Brew BrandXtend is designed to make pricing clearer, deliver purchases as promised and encourage major companies to use mobile phones to market directly to consumers, he said.

`Potential Is There'

Mobile-phone purchases are already common in the U.K., Lane said. About 20 percent of users there made online purchases with their handsets during the past three months, he said, citing a recent survey. Another 30 percent indicated they would do so some time in the future, he said.

``The potential is there,'' Lane said. ``There are so many things that the industry has to do.''

Shares of Qualcomm rose 49 cents to $43.56 at 4 p.m. New York time in Nasdaq Stock Market trading. They have climbed 15 percent this year.

About 2,500 people are attending a three-day event this week in San Diego to learn more about Brew. Qualcomm is second to Texas Instruments Inc. in sales of mobile-phone chips.

Qualcomm also formed an agreement with Warner Music Group, which will offer ring tones, songs and games based on its artists, using to Qualcomm technology. New York-based Warner Music's artists include Madonna, Wilco and James Blunt.

To contact the reporters on this story: Peter J. Brennan in Los Angeles at pbrennan3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 21, 2007 16:11 EDT