South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics Co. probably posted a weaker operating profit in the fourth quarter of 2015 than three months earlier due mainly to sluggish chip, display and mobile businesses, a market tracker said Monday.

According to FnGuide, 25 local brokerages put Samsung's operating profit at an average of 6.68 trillion won ($5.67 billion) for the October-December period, down 9.7 percent from 7.39 trillion won the previous quarter.

Their average estimate of Samsung's top line for the last quarter came to 53.46 trillion won, up 3.4 percent on-quarter.

Samsung, the world's top maker of smartphones, memory chips and TVs, is slated to announce its fourth-quarter earnings guidance on Friday, with a final report due out later this month.  

According to FnGuide, Samsung's semiconductor division likely posted an operating profit of 3.1 trillion won in the fourth quarter, down from a record operating profit of 3.66 trillion won three months earlier.

Its IT and mobile businesses are estimated to have registered an operating profit of 2.1 trillion to 2.3 trillion won, also down from the 2.4 trillion won posted in the July-September period, industry data showed.

Industry watchers said a growing portion of budget models in its smartphone sales will continue to weigh down on Samsung, while growing competition from Chinese rivals armed with price-competitive models is also another challenge for the tech giant.

The operating profit of Samsung's display segment is expected to hover around 500 billion won for the fourth quarter, compared with 930 billion won in the third quarter.

In contrast, the consumer electronics business is estimated to have posted an operating profit of at least 700 billion won in the fourth quarter on increased TV sales, up sharply from 360 billion won three months earlier, according to FnGuide. (Yonhap)