Samsung Electronics reported a nosedive of nearly 70 percent in operating profit for the fourth quarter last year due to weak demand for memory chips amid the global economic slowdown.

The tech giant said on Tuesday that its operating profit came to four-point-three trillion won in the October-to-December period, a 68-point-95 percent drop on-year. The quarterly profit is 18-point-six percent lower than the market estimate by Yonhap Infomax. 

It marks the first time Samsung has reported a quarterly operating profit of less than five trillion won since the third quarter of 2014, when it posted four-point-06 trillion won.

Sales dropped eight percent on-year to 70-point-46 trillion won in the fourth quarter, while the net profit came to 23-point-84 trillion won. 

For the entire year of 2022, Samsung reported 43-point-38 trillion won in operating profit, down 15-point-99 percent from a year earlier.  

Annual sales rose eight percent on-year to 302-point-23 trillion won, surpassing 300 trillion won for the first time. Net profit jumped nearly 40 percent to 55-point-65 trillion won.