Samsung’s guidance for the fourth quarter didn’t do much to impress, as it continues to battle tough competition in its core businesses – although the forecast was not without its positives.

The South Korean giant does not provide much in the way of details in line with its forecast, but more information will be available with its official release later this month.

The company is forecasting a Q4 2015 operating profit of approximately KRW6.1 trillion ($5.08 billion), on consolidated sales of KRW53.0 trillion.

This represents a 15.1 per cent increase in profit and 0.6 per cent increase in sales year-on-year.

Significantly, this indicates it is heading for a full-year profit increase, after reporting a year-on-year drop for 2014 which represented its first annual decline for several years.

But the figures also indicate a 17.6 per cent decline in profit over the prior sequential quarter, on revenue up 2.5 per cent.

It previously said that it was looking to capitalise on seasonal increases to drive device shipments and sales, although with an accompanying lift in marketing costs.

In addition to Samsung’s well documented challenges in the smartphone market – although it still has a position many of its rivals would envy – it has also been mooted that Samsung’s components business is being impacted by weaker demand from PC and smartphone makers.

Earlier this week, Samsung said it expects difficult conditions to continue in 2016, with chief Kwon Oh-Hyon stating that “we have to compete in a new way that we’ve never experienced in the past”.