BY JONAH NWOKPOKU with agency report

Global smartphone maker Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has confirmed expectations for its first annual profit decline since 2011, although a pickup in the fourth quarter hinted that earnings may have stabilized in the short term.

The South Korean tech giant lost market share for three consecutive quarters up to July-September, and analysts say the trend likely continued in the October-December period thanks to competition from Apple Inc’s new iPhones and cheaper Chinese rivals like Xiaomi.

Still, expectations of healthy memory chip demand and improvements in the mobile business on the back of new mid-to-low tier smartphones are buoying hopes that Samsung has at last staunched the bleeding in quarterly earnings.

“I think the company will show a turnaround,” said CIMB analyst Lee Do-hoon, pointing to the positive outlook for Samsung’s foundry and display panel businesses this year.

Samsung said its fourth-quarter operating profit is likely to be 5.2 trillion won ($4.74 billion), beating a mean forecast of 5 trillion won from a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey of 44 analysts.

The outlook means Samsung’s 2014 profit will probably be 25 trillion won, the weakest in three years, although it marks a rebound from the third-quarter’s 4.1 trillion won profit which was the firm’s lowest quarterly result in more than three years. The company is expected to release its annual results around the end of January.