ⓒYONHAP NewsSamsung Electronics has projected a nosedive of nearly 70 percent 

for its fourth quarter operating profit. 

LG Electronics also disclosed ITS fourth quarter operating profit plummeted 

more than 91 percent from a year earlier. 

Samsung Electronics gave its earnings guidance on Friday 

that showed its operating profit came to four-point-three trillion won, 

or around three-point-four billion U.S. dollars, 

in the October-to-December period, 

a 69-percent drop over last year and 60-point-seven percent from last quarter.

It marks the first time Samsung reported a quarterly operating profit 

of less than five trillion won since the third quarter in 2014, 

when it stood at four-point-06 trillion won.

Sales will likely reach 70 trillion won for the quarter, 

down eight-point-58 percent on-year.

The company cited its dismal figures 

to weak demand for memory chips and smartphones 

amid high prices and rising interest rates.

Its rival LG Electronics also unveiled its operating profit for the same period

of 65-point-five billion won, 

or about 51-point-five million dollars, 

for a whopping 91-point-two percent on-year plunge.

The figure is also 79-point-five percent lower than 

the market estimate tallied in a survey by Yonhap Infomax, 

the financial data arm of Yonhap News Agency.