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Electronics giant Samsung is aiming for a bigger share of the smartphone market this year -- as it gears up to unveil more models capable of 5G.

On Thursday the world's largest smartphone and memory chip maker reported its best fourth-quarter profits in four years -- and pointed to a possible price rebound for its memory chips as early as the first half of 2022.

The company also forecast greater global tech demand for the upcoming year - though it warned that supply chain challenges may remain.

A Samsung executive told investors next-generation 5G models are set to make up more than half of all smartphone sales in 2022, and that the company, which captures around 20% of the global smartphone market, stands ready to meet that increased demand.

Analysts say this will pit Samsung head-to-head with low-cost Chinese smartphone rivals like Xiaomi and Vivo in markets outside China.

Meanwhile profits at Samsung's chip business, its largest division, more than doubled from the same quarter a year ago.

But analysts say they were still lower than market expectations.

One factor was fewer memory chip shipments, signalling a push to prioritize profits over volume.