The preliminary figures show that operating profit will be 6.1tn won ($5.1bn; Â£3.5bn) for the October to December period, from 5.29tn won a year earlier.
Analysts had expected the amount to be 6.6tn won, fuelling growth concerns.
Samsung products have been hit by weak demand in China and currency woes.
Operating profit fell 7.5% from the previous quarter.
Sales at the world's biggest maker of memory chips and smartphones also missed forecasts at 53tn won for the period.
Samsung does not break down its earnings results in the preliminary report, leaving analysts to speculate on how each business division is doing.
But analysts predict that the latest forecast is a sign that the tech giant will face another tough year of weaker gadget sales as the smartphone market is saturated.
Samsung is facing stiff competition at the top end of the market from Apple, while cheaper Chinese rivals are gaining ground in the mid to low level range for mobile devices.
On Monday, chief executive Kwon Oh-hyun had warned that the firm faced challenges on weak global economic growth prospects.
Final earnings results for the quarter are due to be released at the end of January.

Its comment came after similar bunting was removed from Masham in North Yorkshire amid concerns its weight when wet might bend posts.
Rad Wagon, who organised the 2,000 miniature knitted jerseys, said they had been "carefully weighed".
The council said it had "no fears" it might get heavy and "pull things over".
Knitters were asked to contribute to campaigns to decorate the routes of both the Yorkshire stage of the race on 5 and 6 July, and the Cambridge stage on 7 July by knitting tiny jerseys in the Tour de France colours.
However, last week bunting was removed from Masham by North Yorkshire County Council over safety concerns.
A spokesperson said: "We noticed that the lighting columns were leaning and in the interest of safety we asked for it to be taken down."
The bunting was subsequently hung elsewhere in the town.
Mr Wagon said he had taken precautions to ensure the miniature jerseys knitted to decorate the streets of Cambridge would not cause any damage.
"We have a lot of knitting friends who are also engineers at the university and we have carefully weighed the jerseys when both dry and soaking wet.
"We are also using short lengths of twine which means there will not be too many jerseys on each individual line of bunting," he said.
All the information had been passed to the contractors employed by the council to hang the bunting and other decorations, Mr Wagon added.
Asked whether Cambridgeshire's council might experience similar issues to those in Yorkshire, a spokesman said: "We have no such concerns.
"All street furniture being used in Cambridge will have been checked appropriately.
"We have no such fears about it getting wet and pulling anything over."
The bunting is being hung around the city this week.
Samsung Electronics says its operating profit is likely to rise 15% in the fourth quarter from a year ago, missing market expectations.
[NEXT_CONCEPT]
Cambridge lampposts are sturdy enough not to buckle under the weight of bunting knitted for the Tour de France, the county council has said.