Samsung Electronics said that its operating profit likely plunged 60 percent in the first quarter from a year earlier amid falling chip prices and weak demand for display panels. 

The South Korean tech giant said in a preliminary earnings report filed on Friday that its sales came to 52 trillion won in the January-March period, down 14-point-one percent from a year earlier. 

The company estimated its operating profit at six-point-two trillion won in the first quarter, a 60-point-four percent drop from the same time in 2018. 

It marks the lowest figure since the third quarter of 2016 and the first time that the quarterly operating profit posted below ten trillion won since the first quarter of 2017. 

Samsung's expected earnings were also lower than the seven-point-one trillion won market consensus.