South Korean telecom giant Samsung Electronics expects to post a record operating profit of more than $14 billion in the fourth quarter, it said Tuesday, boosted by huge demand for its memory chips.

The booming chip unit has helped the firm overcome a bribery scandal that saw its de facto head jailed and the embarrassing Galaxy Note 7 debacle.

Samsung estimated operating profits would hit 15.1 trillion won ($14.1 billion) in October-December, nearly double the 9.2 trillion won posted a year earlier.

However, the figure was below analyst forecasts, which averaged 16.1 trillion won in a survey by Bloomberg News.

Full-year operating profit was projected at 53.6 trillion won -- also a record.

Samsung was dealt a blow in August when Lee Jae-Yong was jailed after being found guilty of bribery, perjury and other charges relating to payments made by Samsung to ousted president Park Geun-Hye's secret confidante. He is appealing his five-year sentence and says he is innocent.

That came after a damaging recall in 2016 of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 over exploding batteries, which cost it billions of dollars and dealt a blow to its global reputation.

But the travails have not impacted demand for Samsung Electronics' products.

Fourth-quarter sales were projected to have jumped 23.8 percent year-on-year to 66 trillion won, with full-sales estimated at 239.6 trillion won.

The firm's share price sank two percent in Seoul with analysts raising concerns about the impact of a stronger won and lower chip prices

"The won-dollar exchange rate is worrisome," Lee Seung-Woo, an analyst at Eugene Investment and Securities, said in a report before the announcement, according to Bloomberg News.