祥茂光電 (AAOI) 2016 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. I will be your conference operator. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Applied Optoelectronics Fourth Quarter and Year 2016 Earnings Conference Call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session.

下午好。我將擔任您的會議操作員。此時此刻，我歡迎大家參加應用光電2016年第四季度及全年收益電話會議。所有線路均已靜音，以防止任何背景噪音。演講者發言後，將進行問答環節。

(Operator Instructions). Please note that this call is being recorded.

（操作員說明）。請注意，此通話正在錄音。

I will now turn the call over to Maria Riley, Investor Relations for AOI. Ms. Riley, you may begin.

我現在將把電話轉給 AOI 投資者關係部的 Maria Riley。萊利女士，您可以開始了。

Thank you. I'm Maria Riley, Applied Optoelectronics Investor Relations, and I'm pleased to welcome you to AOI's fourth quarter and year 2016 financial results conference call.

謝謝。我是應用光電投資者關係部的 Maria Riley，我很高興歡迎您參加 AOI 2016 年第四季度和全年財務業績電話會議。

After the market closed today, AOI issued a press release announcing its fourth quarter end-year 2016 financial results and provided its outlook for the first quarter of 2017. The release is also available on the company's Web site at ao-inc.com. This call is being recorded and webcast live. A link to that recording can be found on the Investor Relations page of the AOI Web site and will be archived for one year.

今天收盤後，AOI 發布了一份新聞稿，宣布其 2016 年第四季度財務業績，並提供了 2017 年第一季度的展望。該新聞稿也可在該公司網站 ao-inc.com 上獲取。此次通話正在錄音並進行網絡直播。該錄音的鏈接可以在 AOI 網站的投資者關係頁面上找到，並將存檔一年。

Joining us on today's call is Dr. Thompson Lin, AOI's Founder, Chairman and CEO; and Dr. Stefan Murry, AOI's Chief Financial Officer and Chief Strategy Officer. Thompson will give an overview of AOI's Q4 results and Stefan will provide financial details and the outlook for the first quarter. A question-and-answer session will follow our prepared remarks.

參加今天電話會議的還有 AOI 創始人、董事長兼首席執行官 Thompson Lin 博士；以及 AOI 首席財務官兼首席戰略官 Stefan Murry 博士。 Thompson 將概述 AOI 第四季度的業績，Stefan 將提供財務細節和第一季度的前景。在我們準備好的發言之後將舉行問答環節。

Before we begin, I would like to remind you to review AOI's Safe Harbor statement. On today's call, management will make forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties as well as assumptions and current expectations, which could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您查看 AOI 的安全港聲明。在今天的電話會議上，管理層將發表前瞻性聲明。這些前瞻性陳述涉及風險和不確定性以及假設和當前預期，可能導致公司的實際結果與此類前瞻性陳述中的預期存在重大差異。

You can identify forward-looking statements by terminologies such as may, will, should, expect, plan, anticipate, believe, or estimate, and by other similar expressions. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this earnings call, to conform these statements to actual results or to changes in the company's expectations. More information about other risks that may impact the company's business are set forth in the Risks Factor section of the company's reports on file with the SEC.

您可以通過“可能”、“將”、“應該”、“期望”、“計劃”、“預期”、“相信”或“估計”等術語以及其他類似表達來識別前瞻性陳述。除法律要求外，我們不承擔在本次財報電話會議之後以任何理由更新前瞻性陳述的義務，以使這些陳述符合實際結果或公司預期的變化。有關可能影響公司業務的其他風險的更多信息，請參閱公司向 SEC 歸檔的報告的風險因素部分。

Also, with the exception of revenue, all financial numbers discussed today are on a non-GAAP basis unless specifically noted otherwise. Non-GAAP financial measures are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for results prepared in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation between our GAAP and our non-GAAP measures as well as a discussion of why we present non-GAAP financial measures are included in our earnings press release that is available on our Web site.

此外，除收入外，今天討論的所有財務數據均基於非公認會計原則（Non-GAAP），除非另有特別說明。非公認會計原則財務指標不應被孤立考慮，也不能替代根據公認會計原則編制的結果。我們的 GAAP 和非 GAAP 指標之間的調節以及對我們為何提出非 GAAP 財務指標的討論都包含在我們網站上的收益新聞稿中。

Before moving to the financial results, I'd like to announce that AOI management will attend the Raymond James Institutional Investors Conference on March 6 in Orlando and we hope to have the opportunity to see many of you there. Additionally, we will be hosting an Investor Session at OFC on March 22, in Los Angeles. This discussion will be webcast live and link to the webcast will be available on the Investor Relations section of the AOI Web site.

在公佈財務業績之前，我想宣布 AOI 管理層將於 3 月 6 日出席在奧蘭多舉行的雷蒙德·詹姆斯機構投資者會議，我們希望有機會在那裡見到你們中的許多人。此外，我們將於 3 月 22 日在洛杉磯 OFC 舉辦投資者會議。該討論將進行網絡直播，並且網絡直播的鏈接將在 AOI 網站的投資者關係部分提供。

Now, I would like to turn the call over to Dr. Thompson Lin, Applied Optoelectronics' Founder, Chairman and CEO. Thompson?

現在，我想把電話轉給應用光電創始人、董事長兼首席執行官林湯普博士。湯普森？

Thank you, Maria. Thank you for joining us today. Q4 was a record quarter for AOI and we are pleased with our results and strong finish to the year. Revenue grew an impressive 60% over Q4 of last year, to reach $84.9 million.

謝謝你，瑪麗亞。感謝您今天加入我們。第四季度是 AOI 創紀錄的季度，我們對我們的業績和今年的強勁收官感到滿意。收入比去年第四季度增長了 60%，達到 8,490 萬美元。

Our revenue growth in the quarter was driven by continued strong demand for our market-leading datacenter products which resulted in 76% datacenter revenue growth over last year and record revenue for the seventh consecutive quarter.

我們本季度的收入增長得益於對市場領先的數據中心產品的持續強勁需求，導致數據中心收入較去年增長 76%，並連續第七個季度創下收入記錄。

In CATV, revenue grew 22% over the prior year to $13.4 million. We achieved non-GAAP gross margin of 38% which represents the highest in our history as a public company. Our record gross margin was driven by our cost-leadership and continued improvement in our manufacturing efficiency. We also delivered a record non-GAAP operating margin of 20%, which is about the high end of our long-term target model. This led to record non-GAAP earnings of $15.5 million or $0.84 per diluted share.

CATV 收入比上年增長 22%，達到 1,340 萬美元。我們實現了 38% 的非 GAAP 毛利率，這是我們作為上市公司歷史上的最高水平。我們創紀錄的毛利率得益於我們的成本領先地位和製造效率的持續改進。我們還實現了創紀錄的 20% 的非 GAAP 營業利潤率，這大約是我們長期目標模型的上限。這導致創紀錄的非 GAAP 收益達到 1,550 萬美元，即稀釋後每股收益 0.84 美元。

I would like to note that this was our second quarter in a row where we doubled our EPS quarter-over-quarter. With our record results and our strong focus on working capital management, I'm pleased to announce that we generated approximately $15.6 million in free cash flow for the quarter.

我想指出的是，這是我們連續第二個季度每股收益環比增長一倍。憑藉我們創紀錄的業績以及對營運資金管理的高度重視，我很高興地宣布，本季度我們產生了約 1560 萬美元的自由現金流。

Our performance in the quarter further demonstrates our growing market share in advanced optics and our commitment to improved execution. I'm especially pleased with our team's ability to deliver more throughput and manufacturing efficiencies with our rapid growth and increasing scale.

我們本季度的業績進一步證明了我們在先進光學領域不斷增長的市場份額以及我們對提高執行力的承諾。我對我們的團隊能夠隨著我們的快速增長和規模不斷擴大而提供更高的吞吐量和製造效率感到特別滿意。

In reviewing our results for the year, AOI delivered 37% revenue growth and improved our gross profit by 44%, which led to a non-GAAP earnings growth of 45%. We completed the expansion of our new state-of-art fab in Sugar Land, and with this facility fully operational, we have been able to increase capacity and scale to meet growing demand.

在回顧我們今年的業績時，AOI 實現了 37% 的收入增長，並將我們的毛利潤提高了 44%，這導致非 GAAP 收益增長了 45%。我們完成了位於 Sugar Land 的最先進的新工廠的擴建，隨著該工廠的全面運營，我們能夠增加產能和規模，以滿足不斷增長的需求。

In 100G we further extended the gap between AOI and the competition. Building upon our first-to-market advantage, we increased our 25G chip production by nearly 150% between January and December and expanded our customer footprint by earning a new large scale customer.

在100G中，我們進一步擴大了AOI與競爭對手之間的差距。憑藉先發優勢，1月至12月期間，我們的25G芯片產量增長了近150%，並通過贏得新的大規模客戶擴大了我們的客戶群。

We met or exceeded our objectives for the year and we are very pleased with what we accomplished. As we look ahead to 2017, we are more excited than ever about growth prospects. We remain committed to operational excellence and positioning AOI for continued success.

我們達到或超過了今年的目標，我們對所取得的成就感到非常滿意。展望 2017 年，我們對增長前景比以往任何時候都更加興奮。我們仍然致力於卓越運營並定位 AOI 以取得持續成功。

With that, I will turn the call over to Stefan to review the details of our Q4 performance and outlook for Q1. Stefan?

接下來，我將把電話轉給 Stefan，以回顧我們第四季度業績的詳細信息和第一季度的前景。斯特凡？

Thank you, Thompson. Total revenue for the fourth quarter grew 60% year-over-year to reach a record $84.9 million, driven by continued strong demand for our market-leading datacenter products. Datacenter revenue in the fourth quarter increased 76% year-over-year to $68.1 million.

謝謝你，湯普森。在市場領先的數據中心產品持續強勁的需求推動下，第四季度總收入同比增長 60%，達到創紀錄的 8490 萬美元。第四季度數據中心收入同比增長 76% 至 6810 萬美元。

Our growth this quarter was driven by record demand for both our 40G and 100G products. In this quarter, 74% of our datacenter revenue was derived from our 40G datacenter products and 20% was from our 100G products. Our strong and sustained growth in the datacenter reflects the continued evolution of computer networks into highly interconnected cloud based and always available resources upon which consumers and businesses are becoming increasingly reliant.

我們本季度的增長是由 40G 和 100G 產品創紀錄的需求推動的。本季度，我們的數據中心收入的 74% 來自我們的 40G 數據中心產品，20% 來自我們的 100G 產品。我們在數據中心方面的強勁和持續增長反映了計算機網絡不斷發展為基於雲的高度互連且始終可用的資源，消費者和企業對此越來越依賴。

Additionally, we believe the economic forces that influence the demand for our business in the datacenter are fundamentally different from other businesses, like telecommunications, which are characterized by alternating waves of investment interspersed with periods of relatively low expenditures on network infrastructure.

此外，我們認為影響數據中心業務需求的經濟力量與電信等其他業務有著根本的不同，後者的特點是投資浪潮交替出現，網絡基礎設施支出相對較低。

As a result, we believe we have many new opportunities ahead of us to drive further growth as datacenter operators transition to 100G and continue to expand their datacenters and upgrade their infrastructure to handle higher bandwidth needs.

因此，我們相信，隨著數據中心運營商過渡到 100G 並繼續擴展其數據中心併升級其基礎設施以滿足更高的帶寬需求，我們將面臨許多新的機遇來推動進一步增長。

Our ability to internally manufacture lasers and light engines combined with our ability to quickly transition production between 40G and 100G products provides us with cost-leadership advantages, a faster time to market and the ability to quickly scale and adjust our throughput to meet growing demand.

我們內部製造激光器和光引擎的能力，加上我們在40G 和100G 產品之間快速過渡生產的能力，為我們提供了成本領先優勢、更快的上市時間以及快速擴展和調整吞吐量以滿足不斷增長的需求的能力。

And lastly, the added capacity from our new fab in Sugar Land enables us to expand our avenues to market for 100G. For example, as we demonstrated with 40G, we were able to expand our share and ramp quickly to the demand of our hyper-scale operators.

最後，我們位於 Sugar Land 的新工廠增加的產能使我們能夠擴大 100G 市場的渠道。例如，正如我們通過 40G 所展示的那樣，我們能夠擴大我們的份額并快速滿足超大規模運營商的需求。

Based on our analysis, we believe we are now the leading supplier of 40G optics for hyper-scale datacenter operators and expect to maintain our leadership position as we continue the transition to 100G.

根據我們的分析，我們相信我們現在是超大規模數據中心運營商 40G 光學器件的領先供應商，並希望在繼續向 100G 過渡的過程中保持我們的領導地位。

Turning to our CATV market, revenue from cable TV products increased 22% year-over-year to reach $13.4 million compared with $11 million in Q4 of last year. Demand for our CATV products was in line with expectations and we continue to anticipate improved demand in this business, as cable MSOs evolve and transition to a more fiber deep network architecture with DOCSIS3.1.

至於有線電視市場，有線電視產品收入同比增長 22%，達到 1,340 萬美元，而去年第四季度為 1,100 萬美元。我們的 CATV 產品的需求符合預期，並且隨著有線 MSO 的發展並過渡到採用 DOCSIS3.1 的更深光纖網絡架構，我們繼續預計該業務的需求將會改善。

Our telecom segment delivered revenue of $2.9 million, up 3% year-over-year with consistent results coming from ongoing deployments of advanced mobile telecom networks around the world.

我們的電信部門實現了 290 萬美元的收入，同比增長 3%，這得益於全球先進移動電信網絡的持續部署。

In the fourth quarter, we had two datacenter customers that contributed more than 10% of revenue. Our largest datacenter customer contributed 63% and our newest datacenter customer contributed 11%.

第四季度，我們有兩個數據中心客戶貢獻了超過10%的收入。我們最大的數據中心客戶貢獻了 63%，我們最新的數據中心客戶貢獻了 11%。

For the full year, we had two datacenter customers contribute 55% and 18% of total revenue, respectively. Given our tremendous top line datacenter growth in the year, we did not have a cable TV customer contribute more than 10% of revenue in the year. However, revenue for our two top CATV customers combined grew 2% for the year.

全年，我們有兩個數據中心客戶分別貢獻了總收入的 55% 和 18%。鑑於我們今年數據中心收入的巨大增長，我們沒有一家有線電視客戶貢獻了當年收入的 10% 以上。然而，我們兩個頂級 CATV 客戶的收入今年合計增長了 2%。

For the full year, revenue grew 37% over last year to reach $260.7 million. By end market, 77% of our revenue was from datacenter products, 17% from cable TV products with the remaining 6% from FTTH, telecom and other.

全年收入比去年增長 37%，達到 2.607 億美元。從終端市場來看，我們的收入77%來自數據中心產品，17%來自有線電視產品，其餘6%來自FTTH、電信等。

Moving down the income statement, as Thompson mentioned, we delivered a record non-GAAP gross margin of 38%, which is ahead of our guidance and current target model and reflects an increase of 490 basis points when compared with the 33.1% reported in Q3 of 2016, and an increase of 850 basis points from the 29.5% reported in Q4 of last year.

向下看損益表，正如Thompson 提到的，我們實現了創紀錄的非GAAP 毛利率38%，這超出了我們的指導和當前目標模型，與第三季度報告的33.1% 相比增加了490 個基點2016 年第四季度的增長率為 29.5%，比去年第四季度的 29.5% 增長了 850 個基點。

The increase in our Q4 non-GAAP gross margin was driven by increased scale and the investments we made to simplify and automate our light engine and transceiver manufacturing processes for both 40G and 100G products. For the full year, our gross margin was 33.4%, up from 31.9% in 2015.

我們第四季度非 GAAP 毛利率的增長是由於規模的擴大以及我們為簡化和自動化 40G 和 100G 產品的光引擎和收發器製造流程而進行的投資。全年毛利率為 33.4%，高於 2015 年的 31.9%。

R&D expense was $7 million or 8.3% of revenue compared with $8.2 million or 11.7% of revenue in the prior quarter. Sales and marketing expense was $1.6 million or 2% of revenue, up from $1.5 million or 2% of revenue in the prior quarter.

研發費用為 700 萬美元，佔收入的 8.3%，而上一季度的研發費用為 820 萬美元，佔收入的 11.7%。銷售和營銷費用為 160 萬美元，佔收入的 2%，高於上一季度的 150 萬美元，佔收入的 2%。

G&A expense was $6.6 million or 7.7% of revenue, up from $5.5 million or 7.8% of revenue in the prior quarter. The sequential increase in G&A was due to year-end audit fees and higher performance-based employee compensation as we exceeded our plan for the year. This brings total operating expenses to $15.3 million or 18% of revenue, slightly up compared with $15.2 million or 21.6% of revenue in the prior quarter.

一般及行政費用為 660 萬美元，佔收入的 7.7%，高於上一季度的 550 萬美元，佔收入的 7.8%。一般行政費用連續增加是由於年終審計費用和基於績效的員工薪酬的提高（我們超出了今年的計劃）。這使得總運營支出達到 1,530 萬美元，佔收入的 18%，略高於上一季度的 1,520 萬美元，佔收入的 21.6%。

Non-GAAP operating income in Q4 increased to $17 million, up 111% when compared with $8.1 million in the prior quarter, and up 366% from $3.6 million in Q4 of last year. Our non-GAAP operating margin in the quarter was 20%, up 850 basis points from the prior quarter and up 1,310 basis points from Q4 of last year. Non-GAAP net income after tax for the fourth quarter increased to $15.5 million, up 123% when compared with $7 million in the prior quarter and up 294% from $3.9 million in Q4 of last year.

第四季度非 GAAP 營業收入增至 1700 萬美元，較上一季度的 810 萬美元增長 111%，較去年第四季度的 360 萬美元增長 366%。本季度我們的非 GAAP 營業利潤率為 20%，比上一季度上升 850 個基點，比去年第四季度上升 1,310 個基點。第四季度非公認會計原則稅後淨利潤增至 1550 萬美元，較上一季度的 700 萬美元增長 123%，較去年第四季度的 390 萬美元增長 294%。

We reported non-GAAP net income of $0.84 per diluted share, up from $0.38 in the prior quarter and $0.22 in Q4 of last year. GAAP net income for Q4 was $14.2 million or $0.77 per diluted share compared with GAAP net income of $17.7 million or $0.97 per diluted share in the prior quarter. The Q4 weighted average fully diluted share count was approximately 18.5 million shares.

我們報告的非 GAAP 攤薄每股淨利潤為 0.84 美元，高於上一季度的 0.38 美元和去年第四季度的 0.22 美元。第四季度 GAAP 淨利潤為 1,420 萬美元，或稀釋後每股 0.77 美元，而上一季度 GAAP 淨利潤為 1,770 萬美元，或稀釋後每股 0.97 美元。第四季度加權平均完全稀釋股數約為 1,850 萬股。

Turning now to the balance sheet. We ended Q4 with $52 million in total cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and restricted cash compared with $60.2 million at the end of the previous quarter. Accounts receivable increased to $49.8 million compared with $44.2 million last quarter and accounts payable increased approximately $4 million over Q3. As of December 31, we had $51.8 million in inventory, a decrease of $3.1 million from Q3.

現在轉向資產負債表。第四季度末，我們的現金、現金等價物、短期投資和限制性現金總額為 5200 萬美元，而上一季度末為 6020 萬美元。應收賬款增加至 4980 萬美元，而上季度為 4420 萬美元，應付賬款較第三季度增加約 400 萬美元。截至 12 月 31 日，我們的庫存為 5180 萬美元，比第三季度減少 310 萬美元。

We raised approximately $27.2 million of net proceeds in our at market offerings which allowed us to pay down $48.5 million of our debt, giving us greater flexibility with our capital structure and a positive net debt ratio. We made a total of $10.4 million in capital investments in the quarter, including $6.2 million in production, equipment and machinery and $3.6 million on construction and building improvements.

我們在市場發行中籌集了約 2720 萬美元的淨收益，這使我們能夠償還 4850 萬美元的債務，使我們的資本結構具有更大的靈活性和正的淨債務比率。本季度我們總共進行了 1040 萬美元的資本投資，其中 620 萬美元用於生產、設備和機械，360 萬美元用於建設和建築改進。

For the year, this brings our total capital investments to approximately $49.4 million. And it is evident from our growth and scale that we are already seeing the benefits of our investments. We will continue to invest in capacity as we see near-term revenue opportunities evolve. With our record results and our strong focus on working capital management, I'm pleased to announce that we generated approximately $15.6 million in free cash flow for the quarter.

今年，我們的總資本投資達到約 4,940 萬美元。從我們的增長和規模來看，我們已經看到了投資的好處。隨著我們看到近期收入機會的發展，我們將繼續投資產能。憑藉我們創紀錄的業績以及對營運資金管理的高度重視，我很高興地宣布，本季度我們產生了約 1560 萬美元的自由現金流。

Before we move to the Q1 outlook, I'd like to take the opportunity to update our target model. As you know, we are exiting the year with record gross margins and operating margins at the high end of our target range. Taking this into consideration and as we factor in expected future cost and price reductions, we are increasing our target for gross margin to 37% to 40% from our prior range of 33% to 35%.

在我們展望第一季度之前，我想藉此機會更新我們的目標模型。如您所知，我們將以創紀錄的毛利率和營業利潤率結束今年的目標範圍。考慮到這一點，並考慮到預期的未來成本和價格下降，我們將毛利率目標從之前的 33% 至 35% 提高到 37% 至 40%。

As a reminder, when we ramp new products, we tend to see gross margins fluctuate from quarter-to-quarter and we believe we should perform within this new target range. Our target net income before tax is expected to be in a range of 18% to 22%. We believe this new target model to be sustainable.

提醒一下，當我們推出新產品時，我們往往會看到毛利率逐季度波動，我們相信我們應該在這個新的目標範圍內表現。我們的稅前淨利潤目標預計在 18% 至 22% 之間。我們相信這個新的目標模型是可持續的。

Moving now to Q1. We expect Q1 revenue to be between $87 million and $91 million, representing 73% to 80% year-over-year growth. As we mentioned last quarter, we have fewer production days in Q1 as a result of the Chinese New Year holiday. However, strong customer demand for datacenter and solid execution by the AOI team will drive higher sequential datacenter revenue.

現在轉到第一季度。我們預計第一季度收入將在 8700 萬美元至 9100 萬美元之間，同比增長 73% 至 80%。正如我們上季度提到的，由於農曆新年假期，我們第一季度的生產天數減少。然而，客戶對數據中心的強勁需求以及 AOI 團隊的紮實執行將推動更高的連續數據中心收入。

We also expect to experience less than normal seasonality in cable TV. We expect Q1 non-GAAP gross margin to be in the range of 38% to 40%. Non-GAAP net income is expected to be in a range of $15.5 million to $17.2 million and non-GAAP EPS between $0.80 per share and $0.88 per share, using a weighted average fully diluted share count of approximately 19.5 million shares.

我們還預計有線電視的季節性將低於正常水平。我們預計第一季度非 GAAP 毛利率將在 38% 至 40% 之間。根據約 1950 萬股的加權平均完全稀釋股數，預計非 GAAP 淨利潤將在 1550 萬美元至 1720 萬美元之間，非 GAAP 每股收益將在 0.80 美元至 0.88 美元之間。

Our first quarter non-GAAP net income guidance assumes an expected annual effective tax rate of 18.4%. With that, I will turn back over to the operator for the Q&A session. Operator?

我們第一季度非 GAAP 淨利潤指導假設預期年度有效稅率為 18.4%。這樣，我將轉回接線員進行問答環節。操作員？

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. (Operator Instructions)

謝謝。我們現在開始問答環節。 （操作員說明）

Our first question comes from Simon Leopold of Raymond James. Please go ahead.

我們的第一個問題來自雷蒙德·詹姆斯的西蒙·利奧波德。請繼續。

Great. Thank you for taking my questions. Quite the results here. So one of the things I think a lot of us are going to wonder about is, given the much better outlook for the March quarter versus seasonal expectation, is how should we extrapolate from this, for the full year?

偉大的。感謝您回答我的問題。這裡的結果相當不錯。因此，我認為我們很多人都會想知道的一件事是，鑑於三月份季度的前景比季節性預期要好得多，我們應該如何據此推斷全年？

So even if you're not prepared to provide full year '17 guidance, if you can help us understand some sense of the cadence you would anticipate through the year given the strong start in the first quarter.

因此，即使您不准備提供 17 年全年指導，如果您能幫助我們了解鑑於第一季度的強勁開局，您預計全年的節奏。

Well, first of all I think it's worth noting that the seasonality that we normally see in Q1 has been related to the kids TV segment primarily, in the past. As we noted in the call a minute ago, the seasonality in cable we don't expect to see as much as we typically do, which partially explains why there isn't this overall seasonality.

好吧，首先我認為值得注意的是，我們通常在第一季度看到的季節性在過去主要與兒童電視部分有關。正如我們在一分鐘前的電話會議中指出的那樣，我們預計有線電視的季節性不會像通常那樣嚴重，這部分解釋了為什麼沒有這種整體季節性。

With respect to longer term, as you know we don't really give guidance on a forward basis. I do think as the year progresses, you'll note that the comparables in the latter half of the year become a little harder. So in terms of percentage growth year-over-year, I wouldn't expect it to be as high as it was this quarter in the back half of the year.

就長期而言，如您所知，我們並沒有真正提供前瞻性指導。我確實認為隨著時間的推移，你會注意到下半年的可比性變得有點困難。因此，就同比增長率而言，我預計不會像下半年的本季度那樣高。

But I think market conditions are very good right now and we're not the only ones that are out there talking about the datacenter being very strong, in particular, and cable TV as well. So I think all the elements there are aligning up for a solid year.

但我認為現在的市場狀況非常好，我們並不是唯一談論數據中心非常強大的人，特別是有線電視。所以我認為所有的因素都在為這一年做好準備。

Great. And then just following up on the 100G, it sounds like you had a very strong improvement q-on-q , and so it sounds like it's doing well. Can you give us a little bit more granularity on your competitive positioning where the supply and demand is within the industry? Because my impression is that you're ramping production maybe faster than some of your competitors.

偉大的。然後，就 100G 進行跟進，聽起來您的 q-on-q 有了非常強大的改​​進，所以聽起來它做得很好。您能否更詳細地介紹一下您在行業內供需方面的競爭定位？因為我的印像是，你們的產量增長速度可能比一些競爭對手更快。

And maybe a little bit of color around specific products like the LR4 form factors. It sounds like that's a challenging one for some of the manufacturers. How are you doing on that particular version?

也許還可以在特定產品（例如 LR4 外形尺寸）周圍添加一點顏色。聽起來這對於一些製造商來說是一項具有挑戰性的任務。你在那個特定版本上做得怎麼樣？

Well, we don't really give results product-by-product. What I can say is I think AOI has for a long time talked about the benefits of vertical integration and the fact that we manufacture our own key components.

嗯，我們並不是真正逐個產品地給出結果。我能說的是，我認為 AOI 長期以來一直在談論垂直整合的好處以及我們自己製造關鍵組件的事實。

And I think when you are in a situation where supply of some of those components may be constrained, or the overall industry capacity is not what is needed to meet the demand, if the company that has the ability to ramp up quickly by virtue of being integrated in their production like we are that it will do better I think than others. And honestly I think that that's the situation that we're in right now, and I think we've been able to start to prove out the value of that vertical integration strategy.

我認為，當其中一些組件的供應可能受到限制，或者整個行業產能無法滿足需求時，如果一家公司有能力憑藉其快速增長的能力，像我們一樣融入他們的生產中，我認為它會比其他人做得更好。老實說，我認為這就是我們現在所處的情況，而且我認為我們已經能夠開始證明垂直整合戰略的價值。

And you've talked about vertical integration in the past, just to make sure I'm understanding you correctly, I assume you're alluding to the 25-gig lasers that you're making as that key differentiator?

您過去談到過垂直整合，只是為了確保我正確理解您的意思，我假設您是在暗示您正在製造的 25 吉激光器是關鍵的差異化因素？

Yes, it's the lasers but also the light engines. I think we can't emphasize enough that the light engines, the manufacturing of the subassembly that includes the lasers and the rest of the optical components - - having our own in-house capability to do that and having a significant manufacturing infrastructure for that by virtue of the similarity between 100G and 40G modules really gives us an advantage in terms of being able to ramp that up quickly.

是的，是激光器，也是光引擎。我認為我們無論如何強調光引擎、包括激光器和其余光學元件的組件的製造——擁有我們自己的內部能力來做到這一點，並擁有重要的製造基礎設施由於100G 和40G 模塊之間的相似性，我們確實在能夠快速提升速度方面具有優勢。

And one last one, if I might, on the 10% customer disclosure. If I understood you correctly, one of the 10% customers in the fourth quarter was new as a 10% customer. Is that correct?

如果可以的話，最後一點是關於 10% 的客戶披露。如果我理解正確的話，第四季度 10% 的客戶之一是新的 10% 客戶。那是對的嗎？

That is correct.

那是對的。

Great. Thank you very much for taking the questions.

偉大的。非常感謝您接受提問。

No problem. Thank you, Simon.

沒問題。謝謝你，西蒙。

Our next question comes from Troy Jensen of Piper Jaffray. Please go ahead.

我們的下一個問題來自 Piper Jaffray 的 Troy Jensen。請繼續。

Hi. Congrats on just a great quarter, gentlemen.

你好。先生們，恭喜您度過了一個美好的季度。

Thank you, Troy.

謝謝你，特洛伊。

How about quick - - I'd love to know, I'm sure the answer is a small number, but what percentage of the new capacity that you guys have brought on is currently being used? Just trying to figure out how much runway you guys have left.

快點怎麼樣 - - 我很想知道，我確信答案是很小的數字，但是你們帶來的新容量目前正在使用的百分比是多少？只是想知道你們還剩下多少跑道。

Well, basically we're using the capacity that we have as we put it online. I think there's two ways of looking at it. There's capacity in terms of current equipment and manpower and we're constantly adding to that capacity. And so that's kind of a moving target. I think the bigger picture is that we spent, as you know, we spent heavily last year on new building infrastructure, particularly here in Sugar Land but also in our overseas operations as well.

嗯，基本上我們正在使用我們在線提供的容量。我認為有兩種看待它的方式。就目前的設備和人力而言，我們有能力，而且我們正在不斷增加這一能力。所以這是一個移動的目標。我認為更大的前景是，正如你所知，我們去年在新的建築基礎設施上投入了大量資金，特別是在 Sugar Land，而且也在我們的海外業務上。

And that gives us an ability to have the physical infrastructure to put new equipment in to be able to continue that ramp. So on both those counts, I think we've been able to keep up with our customers' demand and actually I think we've been able to gain some incremental advantage over competitors who maybe didn't have that sort of latent capacity available to help customers when they saw a surge in demand.

這使我們有能力擁有物理基礎設施來放置新設備，從而能夠繼續這一增長。因此，在這兩方面，我認為我們已經能夠滿足客戶的需求，實際上我認為我們已經能夠比競爭對手獲得一些增量優勢，因為競爭對手可能不具備這種潛在能力當客戶看到需求激增時為他們提供幫助。

All right, fair. And so Stefan, on the 40G business, it looks like it grew nicely for you guys. Obviously your guidance implies probably good growth is still there, or, maybe stability? But, just your thoughts on any concerns about the 40G business starting to decline? When do you think it happens, and will 100G more than offset that?

好吧，公平。 Stefan，在 40G 業務上，看起來你們發展得很好。顯然，您的指導意味著良好的增長可能仍然存在，或者可能是穩定？但是，您對 40G 業務開始下滑的擔憂有何看法？您認為這種情況什麼時候會發生？100G 會抵消這一影響嗎？

Yes, I think not every customer moves in lockstep on this, right? So some customers are approaching- - or at the peak of 40G, others maybe are still growing or at least stable. The main message there is that as they transition away from 40G, they're transitioning to 100G. And so we don't see the decline of 40G- - which is inevitable - - whether it's here now or will be in the next few quarters, depending on the customer.

是的，我認為並不是每個客戶都在這方面步調一致，對嗎？因此，一些客戶正在接近 40G 的峰值，其他客戶可能仍在增長或至少穩定。主要信息是，隨著他們從 40G 過渡，他們正在過渡到 100G。因此，我們不會看到 40G 的衰落——這是不可避免的——無論是現在還是未來幾個季度，具體取決於客戶。

That decline, really, we don't expect to be problematic because we can transition our manufacturing from 40G to 100G and it just gives us additional capacity on the 100G product. So I will say also that we don't really expect a sharp decline in 40G.

實際上，我們預計這種下降不會產生問題，因為我們可以將製造從 40G 過渡到 100G，而且它只會為我們提供 100G 產品的額外產能。所以我還要說的是，我們並不真正預計 40G 會急劇下降。

I think others have maybe speculated that that decline was going to be swift. I think there's a lot of reasons why customers can't transition completely away from 40G in a short timeframe. So we expect it will be a gradual decline and that 100G will more than make up for that.

我認為其他人可能推測這種下降將會很快。我認為客戶無法在短時間內完全擺脫 40G 的原因有很多。所以我們預計這將是逐漸下降，而 100G 將足以彌補這一點。

All right, fair. And, just one more technical question for you - - it's kind of multiparts, here. So love to know when we will see a TAM4 [ph] announcement from AOI? And then if you just talk about the roadmap for 50G lasers, and your thoughts of single [indiscernible] is at the limit?

好吧，公平。而且，還有一個技術問題要問你——這是一個由多部分組成的問題。很想知道我們何時會看到 AOI 發布 TAM4 [ph] 公告？然後如果你只是談論50G激光器的路線圖，你的單一[音頻不清晰]的想法已經到了極限？

I won't comment on when we're going to announce something. When we have something noteworthy we'll certainly let everybody know. As far as the 50G laser topic, I think we continue to believe in that technology. I think we're working very hard. We've got some good preliminary results, but there's still a lot of work to be done in that area. But I think it's very promising.

我不會評論我們何時宣布某些事情。當我們有一些值得注意的事情時，我們一定會讓每個人都知道。至於50G激光話題，我認為我們仍然相信這項技術。我認為我們工作非常努力。我們已經取得了一些良好的初步成果，但該領域仍有很多工作要做。但我認為它非常有前途。

OK. Just one last question. Can you just talk about what the ASP erosion was on the [QS upheap] - - or just how about in general on the datacom products this quarter?

好的。只是最後一個問題。您能否談談 [QS upheap] 的 ASP 侵蝕情況，或者本季度數據通信產品的總體情況如何？

Yes, we don't really break out the price decline or pricing level. What I could say is it's within our expectations, and clearly our gross margin this quarter and with the guidance that we have and the increase to our long-term model indicates that we're very comfortable with the pricing environment that we see.

是的，我們並沒有真正細分價格下降或定價水平。我可以說的是，這在我們的預期之內，顯然我們本季度的毛利率以及我們的指導和長期模型的增加表明我們對我們所看到的定價環境非常滿意。

Perfect. All right, guys, keep up the good work.

完美的。好吧，伙計們，繼續努力吧。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Our next question comes from Paul Silverstein of Cowen. Please go ahead.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen 的 Paul Silverstein。請繼續。

Thanks, guys. This far, I can return on the 10% customers on the 100G. First off, Stefan, I just want to confirm, can you refresh my memory - - so this quarter, 100G was 20%, last quarter was 15% of datacenter revenues - - is that correct?

多謝你們。到目前為止，我可以回報 10% 的 100G 客戶。首先，Stefan，我想確認一下，您能否幫我回憶一下 - - 所以本季度 100G 佔數據中心收入的 20%，上季度為數據中心收入的 15% - - 這是正確的嗎？

I don't have that number in front of me. It sounds about right but I'll have to double check and get back to you.

我面前沒有這個號碼。聽起來不錯，但我必須仔細檢查並回复您。

If that is the case, it sounds like it's not quite, but it almost doubled quarter-over-quarter. And I want to - - I guess I'll ask Troy's question from a different perspective. 100G still is not - - it doesn't look like that's been the key driver in the datacenter growth. And given what's going on at Facebook, Microsoft and Amazon, I trust there's a lot of runway ahead of you where timing's always a question. But going back to the visibility question on 100G ramp, how much visibility do you have into the plans of your customers?

如果是這樣的話，聽起來似乎並不完全是這樣，但它幾乎每個季度都翻了一番。我想——我想我會從不同的角度問特洛伊的問題。 100G 仍然不是——看起來這並不是數據中心增長的關鍵驅動力。考慮到 Facebook、微軟和亞馬遜正在發生的事情，我相信前面還有很長的路要走，但時機始終是一個問題。但回到 100G 斜坡的可見性問題，您對客戶的計劃有多少可見性？

And can you share - - I know you don't want to betray individual customer confidences - - but can you give us any insight on what that time horizon roadmap looks like in terms of 100G deployment plan? And then I've got a follow-up question.

您能否分享一下 - - 我知道您不想背叛個人客戶的信心 - - 但您能否向我們提供有關 100G 部署計劃的時間範圍路線圖的任何見解？然後我有一個後續問題。

So there's a couple of questions in there, I guess. The first one is, do we have good visibility into our customers? And I think the answer is yes. I think we continue to see ourselves and I believe our customers see us as a key partner, as they rollout these new technologies.

我想這裡面有幾個問題。第一個是，我們對客戶有良好的了解嗎？我認為答案是肯定的。我認為我們繼續看到自己，並且我相信我們的客戶在推出這些新技術時將我們視為關鍵合作夥伴。

And so as a key and value partner for them, I think they're giving us the best visibility that they possibly can into their future needs. So I think we have good very visibility there across all of our major customers, including the new ones.

因此，作為他們的關鍵和有價值的合作夥伴，我認為他們正在為我們提供盡可能了解他們未來需求的最佳可見性。因此，我認為我們在所有主要客戶（包括新客戶）中都擁有良好的知名度。

The other question that you had was related to what Troy was asking about too in terms of the 100G ramp up. What I could say is we're tracking as expected on the 100G. I think there's always hiccups in the plan from time to time, but overall the customers are basically purchasing what they led us to expect that they would purchase. And we feel comfortable with their plans for the future in terms of our capacity and our ability to meet their needs.

您提出的另一個問題也與 Troy 在 100G 提升方面提出的問題有關。我能說的是我們在 100G 上的跟踪符合預期。我認為計劃中總會時不時地出現一些問題，但總體而言，客戶基本上購買了他們引導我們期望他們購買的東西。我們對他們未來的計劃感到滿意，因為我們有能力滿足他們的需求。

Stefan, again not to betray customer confidences, but what would that [base problem] that you're currently looking at, what's your expectation for 100G as a percentage of your total datacenter revenue in the first quarter?

Stefan，再次強調不要背叛客戶的信心，但是您目前正在考慮的[基本問題]是什麼？您對 100G 在第一季度數據中心總收入中所佔百分比的預期是多少？

It's going to grow somewhat in the first quarter from what it was in Q4, but we don't break that number out specifically.

第一季度將比第四季度有所增長，但我們不會具體透露這個數字。

All right. One last quick question, if I may. With respect to the other 10% customer that you had, any insight you can share with us wherever that may be in terms of what happened with the significant reduction on a sequential basis? Is that just the [main] quarterly vagaries volatility to deployment plans or is something else going on?

好的。如果可以的話，最後一個快速問題。對於您擁有的其他 10% 客戶，您是否可以與我們分享任何有關連續大幅減少的情況的見解？這只是部署計劃的[主要]季度波動性還是其他原因？

Yes, I think it's basically the quarter-to-quarter variation. What I can say is, we're very involved with this customer. We know them quite well. We had a lot of planned discussions and knowledge of their plan. We're very comfortable that we haven't lost share or anything like that there. But it's just a fluctuation in their demand.

是的，我認為這基本上是季度與季度之間的變化。我能說的是，我們非常關注這個客戶。我們非常了解他們。我們進行了很多有計劃的討論並了解他們的計劃。我們很高興我們沒有失去那裡的份額或類似的東西。但這只是他們需求的波動。

All right. So to be clear, to your knowledge you're not aware of them having brought in another supplier displacing you to any appreciable extent?

好的。因此，需要明確的是，據您所知，您不知道他們引入了另一家供應商，在很大程度上取代了您？

That's correct.

這是正確的。

All right, I'll pass it on. Thank you.

好的，我會轉達的。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Our next question comes from Brian Alger of ROTH Capital Partners. Please go ahead.

我們的下一個問題來自羅斯資本合夥公司的布萊恩·阿爾杰。請繼續。

Hi, guys. Good afternoon. Impressive results all around, especially on the operating and expense side. I'm surprised to see that the R&D level actually declined sequentially. Is that steady-state dollar level that we should expect going forward, or is that something that we'll see project-by-project fluctuating going forward?

嗨，大家好。下午好。各方面的業績都令人印象深刻，尤其是在運營和費用方面。我很驚訝地發現研發水平實際上連續下降。美元的穩定水平是我們未來應該預期的，還是我們會看到每個項目都在不斷波動？

Yes, I think it's something that we - - obviously with the growth rates that we're having and the newer technologies that we're bringing out, it would be not reasonable to expect dollar declines in R&D. What we would expect is for it to decline as a percent of revenue, because I think the R&D spend is not going to be growing certainly as fast as our revenue has been growing.

是的，我認為這是我們 - 顯然，隨著我們的增長率和我們推出的新技術，預計研發費用下降是不合理的。我們預計它佔收入的百分比會下降，因為我認為研發支出的增長速度肯定不會像我們收入的增長速度一樣快。

So I wouldn't say this is necessarily the new normal, but I think that it really has a lot to do with the roll off of some of the pilot run expenses and things like that for some of the 100G products. But we'll continue to spend on R&D as we see the opportunities in the future to capitalize on it.

所以我不會說這一定是新常態，但我認為這確實與一些試運行費用以及某些 100G 產品的類似費用的下降有很大關係。但我們將繼續在研發上投入資金，因為我們看到未來有機會利用它。

I guess asking in a different way, is there anything out on the horizon development-wise that would drive it from a percentage sales basis back into that double digit level that it obviously has previously been? Or is it reasonable to think that as the business grows you'll be able to fund it at these high-single digit levels?

我想以不同的方式問，在發展方面是否有任何東西可以將其從百分比銷售基礎推回到之前的兩位數水平？或者，認為隨著業務的增長，您將能夠以這些高個位數的水平為其提供資金，這是否合理？

Yes, I think the latter. I think it probably won't get - - it'll go back up as a percent of revenue.

是的，我認為是後者。我認為它可能不會——它會以佔收入的百分比的形式回升。

Okay, great. And there's been some talk back and forth, plus and minus on the CATV side of things. You're describing a less than a seasonal outlook for the first quarter here. I'm curious if that's due to just the way the customers are shaking out or if that's due to early adoption or early deployments for DOCSIS3.1?

好的，太好了。關於有線電視方面的事情，有一些來來回回的討論，有正有負。您在這裡描述的第一季度的前景不及季節性。我很好奇這是否只是由於客戶的退出方式所致，還是由於 DOCSIS3.1 的早期採用或早期部署？

It's the latter really, or you could say it's both in the sense that the DOCSIS3.1 is what's driving the customers to adopt or to place larger orders. There really are upgrade projects going on. You've seen some of the MSOs talk about their - - in fairly concrete terms - - talk about their upgrade plans and in some cases their actual ongoing upgrade activities. And, that's really what's fundamentally driving the business in cable TV and the growth there.

確實是後者，或者您可以說兩者都是 DOCSIS3.1 推動客戶採用或下更大訂單的原因。確實有升級項目正在進行中。您已經看到一些 MSO 以相當具體的方式談論他們的升級計劃，在某些情況下還談論他們實際正在進行的升級活動。而且，這確實是有線電視業務及其增長的根本推動力。

Great, looks good for me. Thank you.

太好了，看起來很適合我。謝謝。

Thank you, Brian.

謝謝你，布萊恩。

(Operator Instructions).

（操作員說明）。

Our next question comes from Richard Shannon of Craig-Hallum. Please go ahead.

我們的下一個問題來自 Craig-Hallum 的理查德·香農。請繼續。

Thank you. Thompson and Stefan, I'll echo congratulations on the great results. Keep up the great work.

謝謝。湯普森和斯特凡，我也對取得的優異成績表示祝賀。繼續努力。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Maybe a first question in the datacenter side, we've had a couple different ways already asked about delving into that one - - maybe I'll ask it more on the topic of distance breakpoints to serving there.

也許是數據中心方面的第一個問題，我們已經提出了幾種不同的方式來深入研究這個問題 - 也許我會問更多關於在那裡服務的距離斷點的主題。

I know you haven't talked about this much in detail in the past, but curious how that mix has changed, the 500 meter versus 2 kilometer higher? And then how do you expect to see that happen or to transition as you get more 100G business, and I specifically note your press release from yesterday about a new 10 kilometer product in 100G, curious how that should transition throughout this year?

我知道您過去沒有詳細討論過這一點，但很好奇這種混合發生了怎樣的變化，500 米與 2 公里更高？然後，隨著您獲得更多 100G 業務，您希望如何看到這種情況發生或過渡，我特別注意到您昨天發布的有關 100G 新 10 公里產品的新聞稿，很好奇今年應該如何過渡？

Well, we don't really break out the reaches and things like that, certainly not on a forward-looking basis, so I'll kind of defer on that question. I think as a general rule, customers upgrade their networks at different lengths, at different times sometimes, so it can vary. The ratio of shorter reach to longer reach products can vary a little bit from time to time.

好吧，我們並沒有真正突破範圍之類的事情，當然也不是在前瞻性的基礎上，所以我會推遲回答這個問題。我認為作為一般規則，客戶有時會在不同的時間以不同的長度升級他們的網絡，所以它可能會有所不同。短距離產品與長距離產品的比率有時會略有不同。

I do think the new 100G announcement that we made yesterday is significant. The module that we announced will allow us to offer a product at significantly lower cost and some competitive technologies using different kinds of lasers, for example. And again that's an example of how our vertical integration and our ability to do new things with our own laser fab. It gives us advantages there.

我確實認為我們昨天發布的新 100G 公告意義重大。例如，我們宣布的模塊將使我們能夠以顯著降低的成本提供產品，並使用不同類型的激光器提供一些具有競爭力的技術。這又是我們的垂直整合以及我們如何利用自己的激光工廠做新事物的能力的一個例子。它在那里為我們帶來了優勢。

And I would expect - obviously that 10 kilometer 100G product is one that we haven't had before. So in that sense you would certainly expect that it will contribute some revenue and therefore increase a little bit the proportion of sales that's in a longer distance regime. But what that percentage is and what do we expect it to be on an ongoing basis, I can't comment.

我預計 - 顯然 10 公里 100G 產品是我們以前沒有過的。因此，從這個意義上說，您肯定會期望它將貢獻一些收入，從而稍微增加遠距離銷售的比例。但這個百分比是多少，以及我們對它的持續預期是多少，我無法發表評論。

So you are expecting a 10 kilometer contribution in the current quarter then?

那麼您預計本季度貢獻 10 公里？

I wouldn't necessarily say in the current quarter, it could be. But I think longer term we would certainly expect it to contribute. Otherwise, we wouldn't have announced it.

我不一定會說在當前季度，但有可能。但我認為從長遠來看，我們肯定會期望它做出貢獻。不然的話，我們也不會宣布這一消息。

Of course. OK. I wonder if you guys could give us your sense of how big the datacenter market can be. I don't know if you care to quantify it any way or maybe just give a sense as you've gone through the past year and into the early part of this year, how the forecast looks from your current customers and obviously the guys you've been talking to, but maybe haven't generated business from. How is that market looking and how is that outlook transition here?

當然。好的。我想知道你們能否告訴我們數據中心市場有多大。我不知道你是否願意以任何方式量化它，或者只是給出一個感覺，因為你已經經歷了過去的一年和今年年初，你當前的客戶以及顯然你的客戶的預測看起來如何一直在交談，但可能還沒有產生業務。該市場的情況如何？這裡的前景如何轉變？

Well, I think we didn't directly talk about obviously and we don't really give guidance more than one quarter out. But clearly with us raising our long-term target model in terms of gross margin and things, that would be difficult to do if we talked that the revenue was going to meaningfully decline over a long period of time. So I think we're pretty comfortable with what we're seeing in the market.

嗯，我認為我們並沒有直接討論明顯的問題，也沒有真正給出超過四分之一的指導。但顯然，隨著我們在毛利率等方面提高長期目標模型，如果我們說收入將在很長一段時間內大幅下降，那麼這將很難做到。所以我認為我們對市場上看到的情況非常滿意。

I think others have also announced pretty positive things about the datacenter market. The bottom line is I think that market as we noted in the earnings call is fundamentally different from some other parts of the optical market, like telecommunications where you see the large infrastructure spend and it's kind of on a very bursty basis. It comes and then it goes.

我認為其他人也宣布了有關數據中心市場的非常積極的事情。最重要的是，我認為我們在財報電話會議中指出的市場與光學市場的其他一些部分有著根本的不同，比如電信領域，你會看到大量的基礎設施支出，而且是在非常突發的基礎上。它來了又走了。

The datacenter business is different. It's characterized by an ongoing upgrade process that's sort of continuously going on. And that has implications I think on our ability to predict revenue out in the future and indeed on kind of fundamental building blocks of the market.

數據中心業務則不同。它的特點是持續不斷的升級過程。我認為這對我們預測未來收入的能力以及市場的基本組成部分都有影響。

If you can predict your revenue better, if you have this ongoing cycle, you can invest more in R&D and you have better ability to predict what R&D is needed, because you know what future generations of technologies are likely to be important. And that's very good for our business in terms of being able to target our R&D investments and it's also good for us by virtue of our ability to continue to automate and extract cost out of that process, it helps us improve our gross margin.

如果你能更好地預測你的收入，如果你有這個持續的周期，你就可以在研發上投入更多，並且你有更好的能力預測需要什麼研發，因為你知道未來幾代技術可能很重要。這對我們的業務非常有好處，因為我們能夠瞄准我們的研發投資，而且由於我們有能力繼續自動化並從該流程中提取成本，這對我們也有好處，它有助於我們提高毛利率。

Okay, helpful. Thank you for that. One last question for me - - any way you can help us think about what kind of a free cash flow generation you might have in the quarter? I'm assuming with your revenue guidance higher than the fourth quarter results and you're starting to leverage a little bit on CapEx, so we could see it higher than what you did in fourth quarter. But any way you can help us figure that out, it would be great, Stefan, thank you.

好的，有幫助。謝謝你。我的最後一個問題 - 您可以通過什麼方式幫助我們思考您在本季度可能會產生什麼樣的自由現金流？我假設您的收入指導高於第四季度的業績，並且您開始利用一點資本支出，因此我們可以看到它高於您第四季度的業績。但無論如何，如果你能幫助我們解決這個問題，那就太好了，Stefan，謝謝你。

OK. The free cash flow obviously is basically for us related to our CapEx and what we do in the quarter. We've always said that we will target CapEx very strategically as to what we see in terms of near-term revenue opportunities. So I would say look to our CapEx guidance to determine where our future thinking is in terms of revenue, as you probably already have.

好的。顯然，自由現金流基本上與我們的資本支出和我們在本季度所做的事情有關。我們一直說，我們將根據我們在近期收入機會方面看到的情況，非常戰略性地瞄準資本支出。因此，我想說，請參閱我們的資本支出指南，以確定我們未來在收入方面的想法，正如您可能已經知道的那樣。

That's the most meaningful way to really gauge what we think the future is going to hold is by investing - - or how much investment we're putting in CapEx at this point.

要真正衡量我們對未來的看法，最有意義的方法是通過投資，或者說我們目前在資本支出上投入了多少投資。

OK, fair enough. That's all the questions from me guys. Thank you.

好，可以。這就是我的所有問題。謝謝。

Thank you.

謝謝。

At this time, we have no further questions. And I will turn the call over to Dr. Thompson Lin for closing remarks.

目前，我們沒有其他問題了。我將把電話轉給 Thompson Lin 博士做總結髮言。

Thank you for joining us today. As always, we thank our investors, customers and employees for your continued support. And we look forward to seeing you at one of our conference in March.

感謝您今天加入我們。一如既往，我們感謝投資者、客戶和員工的持續支持。我們期待在三月份的一次會議上見到您。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。