Samsung Electronics on Friday warned of sluggish sales of its artificial intelligence chips in the current quarter due to U.S. export restrictions to China, and as it worked towards launching an improved version of its high-end chips.

The world’s largest maker of memory chips and smartphones posted better-than-expected net profit for the fourth quarter, but its core semiconductor business weakened sequentially.

Samsung Electronics reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue and operating profit, though the latter dropped by nearly a third from the previous quarter.

Samsung Electronics reported fourth-quarter profit that rose 130% from a low base, confirming it had missed earlier estimates due to slowing memory chip demand and extra costs as it works towards providing high-end chips to Nvidia.

The company also warned investors that it’s likely to see only limited earnings growth in the first quarter, as a result of weakness in the key memory chip market, which it dominates. However, it reassured analysts that it’s making progress in its efforts to meet Nvidia Corp.