Yonhap|Samsung Electronics said Friday its fourth-quarter operating profit likely plunged 69 percent from a year earlier due to sliding memory chip prices as the global downturn pummeled demand for IT gadgets and servers."With external business environments set to remain uncertain, chip sales plummeted due to lower demand from server clients, data centers and handset makers," Samsung Electronics said in a statement.Chip suppliers, including Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron Technology, readjusted their inventories during the fourth quarter, further driving down chip prices, it said.Adding to demand woes, the U.S. government's sanctions on some semiconductor exports to China resulted in lower demand from Samsung's key clients.Sales likely fell 8.6 percent on-year to 70 trillion won in the December quarter from 76.57 trillion won a year earlier due to "weak demand resulting from extended macro issues," the company said."