While fourth-quarter revenue and operating profit fell quarter on quarter, annual revenue reached the second-highest on record, Samsung said.

The operating profit of South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics sank almost a third in the fourth quarter owing to spending on research, the company

The earnings exceeded market expectations. The average estimate of net profit by analysts stood at 5.69 trillion won, according to a survey by Yonhap Infomax, the financial data firm of Yonhap News Agency.

Investigators plan to push forward with efforts to retrieve the two aircraft involved in the crash that killed 67 people and raised questions about air safety in the US capital.

Samsung Electronics has reported weak demand for its memory chips is expected to limit earnings growth in the current quarter, with its problems compounded by US restrictions on supplying advanced semiconductors used in artificial intelligence hardware.

Samsung Electronics reported fourth-quarter profit that rose 130% from a low base, confirming it had missed earlier estimates due to slowing memory chip demand and extra costs as it works towards providing high-end chips to Nvidia.

The world’s largest maker of memory chips and smartphones forecasts limited earnings growth in the current quarter as profitability at its core semiconductor business continues to weaken.

Samsung Electronics reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and operating profit, though the latter dropped by nearly a third from the previous quarter.