Samsung posted its holiday quarterly report just one day after Apple; the results, however, weren't nearly as impressive although the Korean tech giant did beat Wall Street's forecast.

For the three-month quarter that wrapped up 2014, Samsung reported revenues of 52.73 trillion won ($48.6 billion). Of that, 5.29 trillion won ($4.87 billion) was deemed operating profit which is a 27 percent drop compared to the year-ago quarter.

For the year, Samsung recorded profit of 25 trillion won, down from the previous record of 36.8 trillion won set a year earlier. It's also the lowest operating profit Samsung has reported since 2011. The company's mobile business saw revenue tumble 23 percent during the quarter from a year ago. On the year, it was down 19 percent while overall sales were down 11 percent in the quarter.

It's been a tough year for Samsung as it has faced stiff competition at both the top and bottom ends of the market.

Apple released its larger screen devices - the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus - last September. Both were well-received by consumers as Apple sold a record 74.5 million handsets during the holiday quarter.

Xiaomi, meanwhile, is giving Samsung fits in emerging markets with its low-priced, high-speced hardware. The company recently surpassed Lenovo and LG as the third largest smartphone maker in the world. It has also quietly become the world's most valuable technology startup.

According to Samsung's head of investor relations, Robert Yi, 2015 will be a year of stability, recovery or growth with regard to its various businesses.