Samsung Electronics Q4 profit down 36% on year

South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co Ltd said on Thursday that October-December profit fell 36% from a year earlier, confirming the firm's first annual earnings decline in three years.

The world's top smartphone maker reported a fourth-quarter profit of 5.3 trillion won ($4.88 billion), compared with a 5.2 trillion won profit it guided for earlier this month.

Profit for the mobile division, the driver of Samsung's record 2013 earnings, fell to 1.96 trillion won from 5.47 trillion won a year earlier.