亞德諾半導體 (ADI) 2017 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Analog Devices Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2017 Earnings Conference Call, which is being audio webcast via telephone and over the web. I'd like to now introduce your host for today's call, Mr. Ali Husain, Treasurer and Head of Investor Relations. Sir, the floor is yours.

早安，歡迎參加 Analog Devices 2017 財年第四季及全年財報電話會議，本次會議將透過電話和網路進行音訊直播。現在我謹向大家介紹今天電話會議的主持人，財務長兼投資人關係主管阿里‧侯賽因先生。先生，請您發言。

Okay. Good morning, everybody. Thank you, Jennifer. Good morning, everybody. Thanks for joining our conference call. You can find our press release and relating financial schedules at the usual place at investor.analog.com. With me on the call today are ADI CEO, Vincent Roche; ADI's CFO, Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah; and Mike Lucarelli from Investor Relations.

好的。大家早安。謝謝你，珍妮弗。大家早安。感謝您參加我們的電話會議。您可以在 investor.analog.com 的常用地點找到我們的新聞稿和相關財務報表。今天和我一起參加電話會議的有ADI執行長Vincent Roche；ADI財務長Prashanth Mahendra-Rajah；以及投資人關係部的Mike Lucarelli。

First, let's get through our disclosures. Note that the information we're about to discuss, including our objectives and outlook, includes forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including those discussed in our earnings release and our most recent 10-Q. These forward-looking statements reflect our opinion as of the date of this call, and we undertake no obligation to update these forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events. Today's commentary about ADI's fourth quarter and fiscal '17 financial results will be detailed further in our 10-K, which we expect to file over the next few days.

首先，讓我們來看看需要揭露的資訊。請注意，我們即將討論的訊息，包括我們的目標和展望，包含前瞻性陳述。由於各種因素的影響，實際結果可能與這些前瞻性聲明有重大差異，這些因素包括我們在獲利報告和最新的 10-Q 文件中討論的因素。這些前瞻性陳述反映了我們截至本次電話會議之日的觀點，我們不承擔因新資訊或未來事件而更新這些前瞻性陳述的義務。今天對 ADI 第四季和 2017 財年財務業績的評論將在我們的 10-K 文件中進一步詳細說明，我們預計將在未來幾天提交該文件。

In addition, note that ADI's fourth quarter and fiscal '17 financial results and short-term outlook will include non-GAAP financial measures when comparing our results to our historical performance. Special items are also excluded from the prior quarter and year-over-year results. Available reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to their most directly comparable GAAP measures and additional information about our non-GAAP measures are included in today's earnings release and in our web schedules, which we have posted under the Quarterly Results section at investor.analog.com. Our web schedules also include a historical view of what the combined ADI and Linear Tech would have looked like by end market, by quarter for the last 3 years. And lastly, please note that our outlook for ADI's first quarter fiscal '18 includes an additional week, so fiscal 1Q '18 will be a 14-week quarter and is expected to include 1 normal week of revenue expense.

此外，請注意，ADI 第四季和 2017 財年的財務業績和短期展望將包括非 GAAP 財務指標，以便將我們的業績與歷史業績進行比較。特殊項目也不計入上一季及上年同期業績。這些非GAAP指標與其最直接可比的GAAP指標的調節表以及有關我們非GAAP指標的更多信息，均包含在今天的收益報告中以及我們發佈在 investor.analog.com 網站“季度業績”欄目的網絡日程表中。我們的網路日程表還包括過去 3 年按終端市場和季度劃分的 ADI 和 Linear Tech 合併後的發展情況的歷史概覽。最後，請注意，我們對 ADI 2018 財年第一季的展望包括額外的一周，因此 2018 財年第一季將是一個 14 週的季度，預計將包括 1 週的正常收入支出。

Okay. So with that, I'll turn it over to ADI CEO, Vincent Roche. With the exception of fourth quarter revenue, Vince's comments about our financial results are on a non-GAAP basis and exclude special items outlined in today's release and in our web schedules.

好的。那麼，接下來我將把發言權交給ADI執行長Vincent Roche。除了第四季度收入外，Vince 對我們財務業績的評論均基於非 GAAP 準則，並且不包括今天發布的公告和我們網路日程表中列出的特殊項目。

Okay, Vince, it's all yours.

好了，文斯，都歸你了。

Thank you, Ali, and a very good morning, everyone. I'd like to firstly welcome Prashanth to ADI. This is, as you know, Prashanth's first quarter as our CFO, and I'm really delighted to have him join ADI.

謝謝你，阿里，大家早安。首先，我謹歡迎 Prashanth 加入 ADI。如你所知，這是 Prashanth 擔任我們財務長的第一個季度，我非常高興他能加入 ADI。

Turning to the quarter. The fourth quarter fiscal 2017 was another very successful quarter for ADI, and I'm pleased to share our results with you this morning. Revenue in the fourth quarter totaled $1.54 billion and was above the midpoint of guidance as the communications and consumer markets led our sequential growth, while the industrial and automotive markets were stable to the prior quarter. Our strong overall revenue performance, coupled with disciplined operational execution, expanded gross and operating margins and drove diluted earnings per share to $1.45, which was above the high end of our guidance. And I'll provide you with a historical perspective.

轉向四分之一。2017 財年第四季對 ADI 來說又是一個非常成功的季度，我很高興今天早上與大家分享我們的業績。第四季營收總計 15.4 億美元，高於預期中位數，通訊和消費市場引領了環比成長，而工業和汽車市場與上一季相比保持穩定。我們強勁的整體營收表現，加上嚴謹的營運執行，擴大了毛利率和營業利潤率，並將稀釋後每股收益推高至 1.45 美元，高於我們預期的上限。我還會提供一個歷史視角。

Over the last 5 years, ADI has doubled its revenue base to $5.2 billion, expanded operating margins by over 900- basis points to approximately 40% and nearly tripled free cash flow generation on a combined company basis to $1.9 billion or 34% of sales, which is within the top 5% of all S&P 500 companies. From a strategic perspective, 2017 was a watershed year as we completed the acquisition of LTC, further deepening and widening our competitive moat, expanding our capabilities in high-value signal processing and power management applications and giving ADI the ability to more completely serve the ever-expanding needs of our more than 100,000 customers. ADI is now able to solve customer problems from sensor to cloud, from DC to 100 gigahertz and from nanowatts to kilowatts with a leading market position in all product segments.

過去 5 年，ADI 的營收基礎翻了一番，達到 52 億美元，營業利潤率提高了 900 多個基點，達到約 40%，合併後公司的自由現金流幾乎增長了兩倍，達到 19 億美元，佔銷售額的 34%，位列標準普爾 500 指數公司前 5%。從策略角度來看，2017 年是具有里程碑意義的一年，我們完成了對 LTC 的收購，進一步加深和拓寬了我們的競爭優勢，擴展了我們在高價值訊號處理和電源管理應用方面的能力，並使 ADI 能夠更全面地滿足我們超過 10 萬客戶不斷增長的需求。ADI 目前能夠解決客戶從感測器到雲端、從直流電到 100 吉赫茲、從納瓦到千瓦等各種問題，並在所有產品領域都佔據領先的市場地位。

Fiscal 2017 was also marked by strong execution across our portfolio of products and customers. For example, in the industrial market, which represented 46% of revenue in fiscal '17, our battery formation and test equipment solutions experienced both cyclical and secular growth as we gained additional dollar content in our customer systems and added new customers in this expanding market, which is forecasted to grow 5x by 2022.

2017 財年，我們的產品組合和客戶群也取得了強勁的業績。例如，在工業市場（2017 財年佔總收入的 46%），隨著我們在客戶系統中獲得更多資金投入，以及在這個不斷擴大的市場中新增客戶，我們的電池成型和測試設備解決方案經歷了週期性和長期性增長。預計到 2022 年，該市場將成長 5 倍。

The factory automation sector also grew strongly during the year as customers made both brownfield and greenfield upgrades to manufacturing equipment. Here, ADI's technology solutions are enabling value creation for our customers by helping reduce plant downtime, boost productivity and make manufacturing more flexible and configurable.

今年，工廠自動化產業也實現了強勁成長，客戶對製造設備進行了現有設備改造和新建設備升級。在這裡，ADI 的技術解決方案透過幫助減少工廠停機時間、提高生產率和使製造更加靈活和可配置，為我們的客戶創造價值。

In health care applications, our optical sensor-based solutions also grew strongly over the prior year led by vital signs monitoring and imaging applications.

在醫療保健應用領域，我們的光學感測器解決方案也比前一年實現了強勁成長，這主要得益於生命徵象監測和影像應用的發展。

In the automotive market, which represented 15% of revenue in fiscal 2017, we made excellent progress on the promise of autonomous driving with new innovations in radar technology, where our solutions provide superior range and resolution capability beyond anything available in the market today. And in automotive infotainment applications, we hit an important milestone for our A2B audio bus solution, surpassing 1 million units shipped in the year across platforms of many automotive OEMs, including Ford.

在汽車市場（2017 財年佔總收入的 15%），我們憑藉雷達技術的新創新，在自動駕駛領域取得了卓越的進展，我們的解決方案提供了超越目前市場上任何產品的卓越範圍和分辨率能力。在汽車資訊娛樂應用領域，我們的 A2B 音訊總線解決方案取得了重要的里程碑，年出貨量突破 100 萬台，涵蓋了包括福特在內的眾多汽車 OEM 平台。

The communications market represented 18% of revenue in fiscal '17. Within this market, we have experienced a tenfold revenue increase over the past 4 years for our software-defined radio solutions, which have become the market leader from macrocell, massive MIMO and small cell.

2017 財年，通訊市場佔總營收的 18%。在這個市場中，在過去 4 年裡，我們的軟體定義無線電解決方案的收入成長了十倍，從宏蜂窩、大規模 MIMO 到小蜂窩，這些解決方案都已成為市場領導者。

The consumer market represented 21% of revenue for the year and also grew strongly, led by portable applications.

消費者市場佔全年收入的 21%，也實現了強勁成長，其中行動應用市場表現尤為突出。

As we often say, luck favors the prepared minds, and we've been preparing and investing for this moment for many, many decades. And across our business, we are creating, capturing and retaining value by leveraging our culture of innovation to solve our customers' biggest and most pressing challenges.

正如我們常說的，機會總是眷顧有準備的人，而我們為了這一刻已經準備和投資了幾十年。在整個業務範圍內，我們透過發揮創新文化，創造、獲取和保留價值，以解決客戶面臨的最大、最迫切的挑戰。

Building on a very strong 2017, we believe we can continue to drive long-term profitable growth by investing at the cutting edge to grow our core franchises and by extending our reach with our customers.

憑藉 2017 年的強勁表現，我們相信，透過投資尖端技術發展我們的核心特許經營業務，並擴大我們與客戶的聯繫，我們可以繼續推動長期獲利成長。

So with that, I'd like to turn the call over to ADI's new CFO, Prashanth. In his short time here, Prashanth has hit the ground running, providing me and the organization with his keen strategic insights. And I'm very confident that with his operational focus and financial discipline, we will increase shareholder value further.

那麼，接下來我將把電話交給ADI的新任財務長Prashanth。雖然Prashanth來到這裡時間不長，但他已經迅速進入狀態，為我和公司提供了敏銳的策略見解。我非常有信心，憑藉他的營運重點和財務紀律，我們將進一步提升股東價值。

Thank you, Vince. Good morning, everyone, and let me add my welcome to our fourth quarter earnings call. I'm very excited to be joining Analog Devices and to be joining Vince's leadership team. This is a company with tremendous legacy of innovation, and I look forward to helping to drive the business and deliver against our long-term financial model.

謝謝你，文斯。各位早安，我謹代表大家歡迎參加我們的第四季財報電話會議。我非常高興能夠加入Analog Devices，並加入Vince的領導團隊。這是一家擁有卓越創新傳統的公司，我期待著幫助推動業務發展，並實現我們的長期財務模式。

In my 8 weeks here, I've been deeply impressed with the quality of ADI's technology, the dedication of our employees and the depth of our customer relationships. I have met many of you by phone already, and I look forward to getting on the road and meeting you in person.

在我來這裡的 8 週裡，ADI 的技術品質、員工的敬業精神以及與客戶建立的深厚關係都給我留下了深刻的印象。我已經透過電話和你們中的許多人見過面了，我期待著上路與你們見面。

Now getting to our results. As Vince mentioned, the fourth quarter of 2017 was an excellent period across multiple dimensions and caps off a very strong year. As I walk through the P&L, with the exception of revenue and non-op expense, my comments will be on a non-GAAP or adjusted basis, which excludes special items outlined in today's press release.

現在公佈結果。正如文斯所說，2017 年第四季在多個方面都表現出色，為這一年畫上了圓滿的句號。在分析損益表時，除收入和非經營性支出外，我的評論將基於非GAAP或調整後的基礎，其中不包括今天新聞稿中概述的特殊項目。

Revenue for the fourth quarter was $1.54 billion, up 6% sequentially and above our guidance midpoint. Gross margins were 40- basis points higher than our guidance, primarily on higher utilization and cost synergy capture. Inventory was stable at 108 days in the quarter. And on a dollar basis, inventory increased $31 million sequentially as we ramped production to match strong demand. Distribution channel inventory of 7 weeks was stable to the prior quarter as well on both a weeks and a dollar basis.

第四季營收為 15.4 億美元，季增 6%，高於我們預期的中位數。毛利率比我們預期高出 40 個基點，主要得益於更高的產能利用率和成本綜效的實現。本季庫存週轉天數穩定在108天。以美元計算，由於我們提高了產量以滿足強勁的需求，庫存環比增加了 3,100 萬美元。分銷通路庫存為 7 週，無論按週數或按美元計算，都與上一季保持穩定。

Operating expenses in the fourth quarter were $435 million or 28% of revenue, which improved operating margin to 42.6%. Non-op expenses in the fourth quarter were $67 million, and we should see this decline by $2 million to $3 million per quarter for fiscal '18.

第四季營運支出為 4.35 億美元，佔營收的 28%，營業利潤率提高至 42.6%。第四季非經營性支出為 6,700 萬美元，預計 2018 財年每季將減少 200 萬至 300 萬美元。

Our fourth quarter non-GAAP tax rate of 9% included a full year true-up to bring the 2017 rate to 9.6%. But as we look to 2018, we expect a 12% tax rate, which is an improvement versus our previously issued guidance of 15%.

我們第四季的非GAAP稅率為9%，其中包括全年調整，使2017年的稅率達到9.6%。但展望 2018 年，我們預計稅率為 12%，這比我們先前發布的 15% 的指導意見有所改善。

EPS for the fourth quarter was $1.45, bringing the full year to $4.72, up $1.65 from the prior fiscal year.

第四季每股收益為 1.45 美元，全年每股收益為 4.72 美元，比上一財年增長 1.65 美元。

Free cash flow generation was very solid in the quarter at $630 million with an associated free cash flow margin of 41%. And during the quarter, we paid down $350 million of debt, which has helped reduce our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio to 2.6, down from the 2.9 in the prior quarter.

本季自由現金流產生非常穩健，達到 6.3 億美元，相關自由現金流利潤率為 41%。本季度，我們償還了 3.5 億美元的債務，這有助於將我們的淨債務與 EBITDA 比率從上一季的 2.9 降至 2.6。

Capital additions in the fourth quarter were $65 million, and we expect capital additions in fiscal 2018 to continue to run at our model of approximately 4% of sales.

第四季新增資本為 6,500 萬美元，我們預期 2018 財年的新增資本將繼續以我們約佔銷售額 4% 的模式運作。

During the quarter, we paid $167 million in dividends with an associated quarterly cash dividend of $0.45, representing an annual dividend payment of $1.80 per share. All in, a good quarter to wrap up a solid year.

本季度，我們支付了 1.67 億美元的股息，相應的季度現金股息為每股 0.45 美元，相當於每股年度股息支付 1.80 美元。總而言之，這是一個不錯的季度，為穩健的一年畫上了圓滿的句號。

Let us now turn to our outlook and expectations for the first quarter of fiscal '18, which with the exception of revenue, are also on a non-GAAP basis. We are planning for revenue in the 14-week first quarter to be in the range of $1.44 billion to $1.54 billion. We expect a full week's revenue benefit from this 14th week as it falls in the last week in the month of January. Adjusting for the additional week and at the midpoint of guidance, Q1 revenue is expected to decrease sequentially. On this same basis, we expect ADI's B2B markets of industrial, automotive and communications in aggregate to decrease in the mid-single-digits sequentially in the seasonally slower first quarter but to be up over the prior year, led by the industrial end-market. Given that our revenue guidance by end-market is not perfectly correlated with our actual results, this will also be the last quarter in which we provide our revenue outlook by end-market. Of course, we will continue to guide you to an overall revenue range.

現在讓我們來看看我們對 2018 財年第一季的展望和預期，除收入外，其他數據均以非 GAAP 為基礎。我們預計第一季（14 週）的營收將在 14.4 億美元至 15.4 億美元之間。我們預計第 14 週將帶來整整一周的收入成長，因為它是 1 月的最後一周。考慮到額外一周的時間，並按照預期中位數計算，預計第一季營收將季減。基於同樣的原則，我們預計 ADI 的工業、汽車和通訊 B2B 市場整體在季節性淡季的第一季度將環比下降個位數中段，但較上年同期將有所增長，其中工業終端市場將引領增長。鑑於我們按終端市場提供的收入預測與實際業績並不完全相關，這也將是我們將最後一次按終端市場提供收入展望。當然，我們會繼續引導您確定整體收入範圍。

We are planning for gross margins to remain relatively stable sequentially and to be in the range of 70.5% to 71%. Operating expenses are estimated to be in the range of $440 million to $450 million and include an additional week's worth of activity related to the 14-week quarter. On a 13-week basis, operating expenses are expected to decrease in the mid-single-digits sequentially.

我們計劃毛利率保持相對穩定，環比維持在 70.5% 至 71% 的範圍內。營運費用預計在 4.4 億美元至 4.5 億美元之間，其中包括與 14 週季度相關的額外一周的活動。預計未來 13 週的營運費用將較上季下降 5%（中個位數）。

Based on these inputs, we expect operating margins in the first quarter of 2018 to be in the range of approximately 40% to 42% and for diluted earnings per share, excluding special items, to be in the range of $1.20 to $1.36.

根據這些投入，我們預計 2018 年第一季的營業利潤率將在 40% 至 42% 之間，不計特殊項目的稀釋後每股收益將在 1.20 美元至 1.36 美元之間。

So to wrap it up, this was a terrific quarter of performance and wraps up a very strong year of revenue growth, margin expansion, EPS growth and free cash flow generation. Looking ahead, we're encouraged by a number of positive indicators across our business, including the strong secular growth drivers, a robust opportunity pipeline and access to customers at an unprecedented level, which, combined with our strong free cash flow and commitment to deleveraging, will continue to drive value for our shareholders.

總而言之，本季業績非常出色，也為營收成長、利潤率擴張、每股盈餘成長和自由現金流產生強勁的一年畫上了圓滿的句號。展望未來，我們受到業務中許多積極指標的鼓舞，包括強勁的長期成長動力、穩健的機會管道以及前所未有的客戶准入，這些因素，再加上我們強勁的自由現金流和去槓桿化的承諾，將繼續為我們的股東創造價值。

Now before we move to the Q&A, I have an additional announcement. To help continue the successful integration of Linear Tech, I am delighted to announce that Ali Husain has accepted the position of CFO for ADI's Power division, supporting Steve Pietkiewicz and will be relocating with his family to sunny California. Vince and I would like to take this opportunity to thank Ali for the tremendous work he has done with the investment community, and we look forward to working with him in this new role to drive even greater shareholder value in the future. Moving forward, Mike Lucarelli, whom many of you already know from his work with Ali over the past couple of years, will be your main point of contact in IR. I have enjoyed getting to know Mike over the past few weeks as someone who is both energetic and knowledgeable. I'm sure you'll find Mike to be a great resource for your investment research on ADI.

在進入問答環節之前，我還有一件事要宣布。為了幫助Linear Tech繼續成功整合，我很高興地宣布，Ali Husain已接受ADI電力部門首席財務官一職，協助Steve Pietkiewicz，並將攜家人搬遷至陽光明媚的加利福尼亞州。文斯和我謹藉此機會感謝阿里為投資界做出的巨大貢獻，我們期待與他在新的職位上合作，在未來為股東創造更大的價值。接下來，麥克·盧卡雷利（Mike Lucarelli）將成為您在IR的主要聯絡人，你們中的許多人已經透過他過去幾年與阿里（Ali）的合作認識了他。在過去的幾周里，我很高興能認識麥克，他既精力充沛又知識淵博。我相信你會發現，麥克對於你研究ADI的投資項目來說，是一位非常寶貴的資源。

And so with that, I'll turn it over to Ali for our Q&A session.

那麼，接下來我將把問答環節交給阿里。

Great. Thanks, Prashanth. It's been a privilege working with the investment community, and I look forward to this new challenge.

偉大的。謝謝你，Prashanth。能夠與投資界人士共事是我的榮幸，我期待迎接這項新的挑戰。

So all right, let's get to the Q&A session. (Operator Instructions) So operator, let's get to our first question.

好了，接下來進入問答環節。（操作員指示）操作員，我們開始回答第一個問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from John Pitzer with Crédit Suisse.

（操作說明）我們的第一個問題來自瑞士信貸的約翰‧皮策。

Vince, Prashanth, congratulations on the strong results. Ali, congratulations on the new role. My first question, Vince, is just around industrial year-over-year growth. I think, clearly, one of the investor concerns out there is that, that part of your business has been growing at greater than 20% for several quarters consecutively, and I think there are some concerns around sustainability. Last quarter, you sort of highlighted some one-offs that helped to drive some of the strength, including things like ATE. Were there one-offs in the October quarter? And I guess, more importantly, as you look out over the next several quarters, how would you expect year-over-year growth rate to trend? And what sort of the more normalized growth rate we should suspect as being sustainable?

Vince、Prashanth，恭喜你們取得優異成績。阿里，祝賀你榮升新職。文斯，我的第一個問題是關於工業年增速的。我認為，很顯然，投資者們擔心的是，貴公司這部分業務已經連續幾個季度以超過 20% 的速度成長，我認為這引發了人們對這種成長可持續性的擔憂。上個季度，您重點介紹了一些推動業績成長的一次性因素，包括 ATE 等。十月份季度是否有個別異常狀況？更重要的是，展望未來幾個季度，您預計年比成長將如何變化？那麼，我們應該認為什麼樣的正常成長率才是可持續的呢？

Yes, good question, John. Thanks. I think -- let me start with the last part of the question first about sustainable growth rates. If you look back over the last 5 years of our business, we've had a growth rate in 2017 that was well beyond 20% in the industrial sector. But actually, when you aggregate over 5 years, the growth rate was around 5%. And I think that is a sustainable number and the way to think about the long-term growth trajectory for the industrial business. So then looking into '18, how do we view things? Well, I think, for sure, the strong GDP environment bodes well for the industrial business, number one. I think also we're seeing good growth drivers. I've had the benefit of speaking to many executives of many of our industrial customers over the last several months, the last few quarters, and what I can tell you is that the activity in building out the industrial IoT, I talked in the prepared remarks about the brownfield upgrade in America, for example, the greenfield build-outs in China, all these things, I think, are good secular growth drivers that have many, many years of legs to them, particularly, I would say, in China. And added to that, John, we're seeing, for example, the emergence of these rechargeable batteries everywhere, in cars, obviously everybody knows about smartphones and so on and so forth. But the formation and test of those battery systems is quite a great performance challenge and an area where we see a lot of opportunity to bring precision technologies to market. So I think you've got to be skeptical to some extent. I think there are -- it's -- are those growth rates sustainable? Yes. I think on a 5% level, they are. But my sense is heading into '18, we should be able to hold the gains. I guess the only cautionary tale, if is there is one in the industrial market, is the world of ATE. But again, there, what we're seeing is the -- for example, the shift from hard disk drive to solid-state memories, the building out of these giga memory factories and giga factories in general to support consumer goods. So I think when you put everything together across instrumentation, aerospace and defense, factory automation and instrumentation in general, I think we're in for a good cycle right now.

是的，約翰，問得好。謝謝。我想——讓我先從問題的最後一部分，即可持續成長率開始回答。回顧我們過去 5 年的業務，2017 年我們在工業領域的成長率遠遠超過了 20%。但實際上，如果將 5 年的數據匯總起來，成長率約為 5%。我認為這是一個可持續的數字，也是思考工業企業長期成長軌跡的方式。那麼展望 2018 年，我們該如何看待這些問題呢？嗯，我認為，強勁的GDP環境肯定對工業企業有利，這是第一點。我認為我們也看到了良好的成長動力。在過去的幾個月、幾個季度裡，我有幸與我們許多工業客戶的高階主管進行了交流。我可以告訴大家的是，工業物聯網的建設活動，例如我在準備好的發言稿中提到的美國現有工廠的升級改造，以及中國的新建項目，我認為所有這些都是良好的長期增長驅動力，具有很長的持續發展潛力，尤其是在中國。此外，約翰，我們看到，例如，可充電電池在各處湧現，在汽車中，當然每個人都知道智慧型手機等等。但是，這些電池系統的製造和測試是一項巨大的性能挑戰，也是我們看到將精密技術推向市場的巨大機會的領域。所以我認為，保持一定程度的懷疑是必要的。我認為有這樣的問題──這些成長率是否可持續？是的。我認為從 5% 的比例來看，確實如此。但我的感覺是，進入 2018 年，我們應該能夠維持住這些成果。我想，如果說工業市場有什麼警世故事的話，那就是 ATE 領域了。但同樣地，我們看到的是——例如，從硬碟到固態記憶體的轉變，以及為了支援消費品而建造的千兆記憶體工廠和千兆工廠。所以我覺得，綜合考慮儀器儀表、航空航太和國防、工廠自動化以及儀器儀表等各個方面，我們現在正處於一個良好的周期。

Maybe as my follow-on, just on the consumer side, it was a lot stronger than expected in the October quarter. I wonder if you can give us some color on what was driving the strength. And I know, Prashanth, in your prepared comments, you mentioned you want to stay away from giving guidance on an ongoing basis by end-market. But during the Analyst Day this year, you kind of gave fairly specific guidance for all of fiscal '18 on consumer, and as we think about your differing content in flagship phones and how that might look into the January quarter, is there any help you can give us on what we should expect to see out of consumer, at least relative to seasonality going into January?

或許我的後續補充是，僅就消費者而言，10 月的季度表現遠超預期。我想請您詳細介紹一下推動這股強勁勢頭的因素。我知道，Prashanth，你在事先準備好的評論中提到，你想避免持續地按終端市場提供指導。但在今年的分析師日上，您對 2018 財年消費者業務給了相當具體的指導。考慮到您在旗艦手機方面的不同內容以及這些內容在 1 月份季度可能會如何變化，您能否就我們應該對 1 月份的消費者業務抱有的預期，至少相對於季節性因素，提供一些幫助？

Yes -- well, our consumer business in the quarter was ahead of expectation. It was at the high-end of our expectation, and it was clearly driven by portable applications. And as we signaled at the Analyst Day, we're expecting our consumer business to be done in 2018 largely on the back of a weaker portable market, portable business for ADI. And you're already starting to see that weakness in the guidance that we're now providing. So I think at the midpoint of guidance, if you take '18, the prediction for '18, we expect consumer to be down meaningfully over 2017.

是的－本季我們的消費者業務超出了預期。它達到了我們預期的高端水平，而且顯然是由便攜式應用程式推動的。正如我們在分析師日上所表明的那樣，我們預計我們的消費者業務將在 2018 年結束，這主要是由於便攜式市場疲軟，ADI 的便攜式業務也隨之萎縮。你們已經開始看到我們目前提供的指導有這種不足之處。所以我認為，在指導意見的中點，如果你以 2018 年為例，我們預期 2018 年的消費者支出將比 2017 年大幅下降。

John, I will only add that if you take the guidance we've given you, you adjust for the 13th quarter, which is the first calculation, and then you back out the B2B guidance we've given you, you should be able to impute the consumer guide and you'll come up with a pretty meaningful number, which is the trend that we've been indicating for the past several quarters is starting to materialize.

約翰，我只想補充一點，如果你按照我們給你的指導，根據第 13 季（即第一次計算）進行調整，然後減去我們給你的 B2B 指導，你應該能夠推算出消費者指導，你會得出一個相當有意義的數字，而我們過去幾個季度一直指出的趨勢正在開始成為現實。

Our next question comes from Craig Hettenbach with Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的克雷格·赫滕巴赫。

So I had a question on the automotive market. You highlighted 1 million units of A2B. Can you just talk about kind of the breadth of that? I know you mentioned before, but just kind of design -- breadth of design and how you see the trajectory in A2B.

我有一個關於汽車市場的問題。你重點介紹了 100 萬個 A2B 單元。能簡單談談這方面的廣度嗎？我知道你之前提到過，但還是想問一下設計方面的問題——設計的廣度以及你如何看待 A2B 的發展軌跡。

Craig, virtually, all the OEMs across the globe have adopted A2B. And we just basically got our steam going in 2017 largely in the U.S. and, to some extent, Europe. So we're at the very, very early stages. We're not at the knee of the curve yet, so to speak. So I expect a hockey stick in the A2B market over the next 3 years, and it will ramp in '18 and '19. And I think we'll be at some significant, sustainable level of revenue in the 2020 time frame. So it's -- we're in the ramp phase, but I think it's very meaningful that we've already shipped 1 million units into production models at this point.

Craig，實際上，全球所有 OEM 廠商都採用了 A2B 模式。2017 年，我們基本上是在美國，並在某種程度上在歐洲，開始成長。所以我們目前還處於非常非常早期的階段。可以說，我們還沒有到達曲線的轉折點。所以我預計未來 3 年 A2B 市場將呈指數級增長，並在 2018 年和 2019 年加速成長。我認為到 2020 年，我們的收入將達到一個可觀且可持續的水平。所以，我們目前正處於量產階段，但我認為，到目前為止我們已經向量產機型交付了 100 萬台，這意義非常重大。

Got it. And then as my follow-up for Prashanth, what are the key areas as you kind of step into the CFO role there, key areas of focus for you and opportunities you see going forward?

知道了。那麼，作為對 Prashanth 的後續提問，您作為首席財務官，在擔任該職位後，您關注的關鍵領域是什麼？您認為未來的重點領域是什麼？您看到了哪些機會？

Sure. Thank you. So certainly, my primary goal is going to be ensuring that we deliver against the financial model that was communicated over the summer. That means we need to grow our revenue, convert that revenue into high profit dollars and then deliver that profit as cash flow growth to pay down our debt. I would say equally important will be to work collectively with the 3 division presidents to ensure the successful integration of LTC, to achieve both the revenue and the cost synergies that were underpinning the deal rationale. And then maybe last, I think Vince had mentioned in prior calls that I've been chartered with working with the division leaders to really uncover and capture opportunities for trapped value to help drive shareholder value. That includes areas that I've already begun working with the organization on such as pricing.

當然。謝謝。因此，我的首要目標當然是確保我們實現夏季期間公佈的財務模型。這意味著我們需要增加收入，將收入轉化為高利潤，然後將利潤轉化為現金流成長來償還債務。我認為同樣重要的是與三個部門總裁共同努力，確保 LTC 的成功整合，從而實現支撐這筆交易合理性的收入和成本協同效應。最後，我想Vince在之前的電話會議中提到過，我的任務是與各部門領導合作，真正挖掘並抓住被困價值的機會，以幫助提升股東價值。這包括我已開始與該組織合作的領域，例如定價。

Our next question is from William Stein with SunTrust.

我們的下一個問題來自 SunTrust 銀行的 William Stein。

I'm hoping you can characterize lead times and book-to-bill in the quarter that's being reported and compare them to the prior quarter.

我希望您能對本季度報告的交貨週期和訂單到發貨週期進行描述，並與上一季進行比較。

Sure. Yes, I can help you with that. So as I mentioned, activity remains fairly stable. So on a book-to-bill basis at the enterprise level, just a hair under 1 as we head into the first quarter, and then if you back out consumer, some slight expansion versus that. However, the -- as I mentioned, the channel still looks very stable at around 7 weeks and equivalent on a dollar basis. So we're heading into the holiday season, but from where we stand today, given the somewhat limited visibility that this industry has, things look to be stable.

當然。是的，我可以幫您解決這個問題。正如我之前提到的，市場活動仍然相當穩定。因此，從企業層級來看，第一季訂單出貨比略低於 1，如果剔除消費者部分，則與此相比略有成長。然而，正如我所提到的，該頻道目前看起來仍然非常穩定，大約持續 7 週，以美元計算也相當穩定。假期將至，但就目前來看，考慮到該行業前景的不確定性，情況似乎比較穩定。

Okay. One other as a follow-up, if I can. I'm hoping you can offer some competitive commentary on the converter market in light of one of the field programmable gate array companies highlighting this product they call an RFSoC that they indicate is taking share in the converter market. If you can comment on that.

好的。如果可以的話，再補充一個。我希望您能就轉換器市場提供一些有競爭力的評論，因為一家現場可編程閘陣列公司正在重點宣傳他們稱為 RFSoC 的產品，並表示該產品正在蠶食轉換器市場的份額。如果您能對此發表評論就太好了。

Yes. Look, as is the dynamic in the business world, good markets are always going to attract competition. And I think competition in the converter market in general has been really consolidating over the last 5 or 7 years, so -- but we've got a 5-decade history of building high-performance analog solutions for our customers across the board in areas like wireless infrastructure, wired infrastructure and other important areas like aerospace and defense, civil aviation and so on. And what I can tell you for sure is that as the OEMs deal with ever-increasing technology complexity, our customers in the area of these communication systems, in particular, where a lot of the very, very high-speed data converter products are used, they need a very broad array of microwave, of RF mixed-signal technologies and, of course, power technologies. And it's really about smartly partitioning their solutions for performance, for power efficiency, for footprint and last but not least, cost. And we have a multi-decade history of not only delivering on all aspects of those performance dimensions across the board, but also, we've been delivering a broad suite and array of converter products for many, many years on time with very high quality, and last but not least, great support at the application and system level. So there will always be competition, but our portfolio is unmatched in our industry irrespective of whatever configuration a customer is using. So there will always be competition, but it's our job to stay ahead right on the cutting edge of what's possible.

是的。你看，商業世界的法則就是如此，好的市場總是會吸引競爭。我認為在過去的 5 到 7 年裡，轉換器市場的競爭總體上一直在整合，所以——但是，我們在無線基礎設施、有線基礎設施以及航空航天和國防、民用航空等其他重要領域，為我們的客戶構建高性能模擬解決方案方面，擁有 50 年的歷史。我可以肯定地告訴大家，隨著 OEM 廠商應對日益複雜的技術，我們通訊系統領域的客戶，特別是那些使用大量高速數據轉換器產品的客戶，需要非常廣泛的微波、射頻混合訊號技術，當然還有功率技術。實際上，關鍵在於根據性能、能源效率、佔地面積以及最重要的成本，巧妙地劃分解決方案。數十年來，我們不僅在各個性能維度上都取得了全面成功，而且多年來，我們還按時交付了種類繁多、質量極高的轉換器產品，最後但同樣重要的是，我們在應用和系統層面提供了強大的支持。因此競爭總是存在的，但無論客戶使用何種配置，我們的產品組合在業界都是無與倫比的。所以競爭永遠都會存在，但我們的職責就是始終走在技術的最前沿，不斷探索各種可能性。

Our next question is from C.J. Muse with Evercore.

我們的下一個問題來自 Evercore 公司的 C.J. Muse。

I guess, first question, as you think about the extra week in January, do you expect that to be equally apportioned across all segments? Or do you think 1 or 2 will do better than others? And I guess, as a follow-up to that, how do you think about normal seasonality heading into the April quarter?

我想問的第一個問題是，考慮到一月份多出來的一周，您認為這一周會在各個部分之間平均分配嗎？還是你認為1號或2號會比其他選項表現更好？那麼，作為對上述問題的進一步探討，您如何看待進入四月季度的正常季節性變化？

Sure. So C.J., that extra week is just the calendar consequence of how the ADI fiscal is run. So it comes around every 5 to 6 years. It will be equivalent across all industries. And since it falls sort of in the month of January, I would not expect anything out of the ordinary for that. But I would remind everyone that as you build your models going forward into Q2 that you do want to adjust your sequential growth rates to reflect that you're moving from a 14-week into a 13-week quarter.

當然。所以 C.J.，多出來的那一週只是 ADI 財政年度運作方式在日曆上造成的後果。所以它大約每5到6年發生一次。它在所有行業中都將適用。而且由於它恰好在1月份，所以我預計不會有任何異常情況發生。但我要提醒大家，在建造第二季模型時，你們需要調整連續成長率，以反映季度從 14 週縮短到 13 週。

Okay. And then I guess as my follow-up, I guess to kind of follow on, on John's question around the sustainability of industrial strength year-on-year, can you kind of walk through as you look back on '17, how much of the strength was sort of a reset to GDP versus replenishment in the distribution channel versus rising silicon content? How do you think about those 3 factors in terms of 20-plus percent growth?

好的。然後，我想接著約翰關於工業實力逐年持續發展的問題，您能否回顧一下 2017 年，分析一下這種實力提升有多少是由於 GDP 的調整，有多少是由於分銷渠道的補充，又有多少是由於矽含量的上升？您如何看待這三個因素對20%以上成長率的影響？

Well, yes, in times -- in terms of rising silicon content, I think there's no question there is more sensing, more measuring being applied to factory automation and process control machines, so we benefit from that. Something that doesn't get talked about as much is the automation of labor in China, and that's going to be a multiyear build-out. And many of our European and Japanese customers, in particular, are benefiting from that build-out. But that will be -- that's part of the China 2025 initiative, so that's very significant and will be for a long time to come. And I think -- look, there's certainly an anxiety around supply out there, so clearly, a certain amount of the demand is driven by anxiety. But I would say, when you look across our channel, you look across our customer base, inventories are up somewhat. Our inventories are up a little, but we're building inventory on the basis of what we believe to be real demand. So I think this is very much a demand-driven cycle. And I think when you look at the inventories across the board, things are in pretty good balance at the moment.

是的，隨著矽含量的不斷提高，我認為毫無疑問，越來越多的感測和測量技術被應用於工廠自動化和製程控制機器，因此我們從中受益。很少有人談論中國的勞動力自動化，而這將是一個經過多年建設的過程。尤其是我們的許多歐洲和日本客戶，都從這項建設中受益匪淺。但這將是——這是「中國2025」倡議的一部分，所以意義非常重大，而且在未來很長一段時間內都將如此。我認為——你看，目前市場上確實存在供應方面的焦慮，所以很明顯，一定程度的需求是由這種焦慮所驅動的。但我想說，當你縱觀我們的通路和客戶群時，你會發現庫存增加。我們的庫存略有增加，但我們是根據我們認為的實際需求來建立庫存的。所以我認為這很大程度上是一個需求驅動的周期。我認為，從整體來看，目前的庫存狀況相當平衡。

Our next question is from Stacy Rasgon with Bernstein Research.

下一個問題來自伯恩斯坦研究公司的史黛西·拉斯貢。

First, on the guidance for next quarter. The B2B corrected for the extra week down mid-single-digits. It seems to be a bit worse than I would consider normal. Is there anything specific across your 3 businesses, I guess, relative to what we'd ordinarily see as we go into Q1 that's driving that maybe a little worse than normal seasonality?

首先，關於下一季的業績指引。B2B業務因額外一週的下滑而修正為個位數中段的降幅。情況似乎比我預想的正常情況還要糟糕。我想問的是，相對於我們通常在第一季看到的情況，你們的三個業務部門是否存在一些特殊情況，導致季節性波動比正常情況略微嚴重一些？

Well, I would say, Stacy, that when you look at that on a year-over-year basis, even guiding B2B as we did, is still pretty healthy growth year-on-year. So that gets you almost to high single digits, low double digits.

嗯，Stacy，我想說，從同比來看，即使像我們這樣專注於 B2B 業務，同比增速仍然相當健康。這樣就幾乎達到了個位數高位，兩位數低位。

Yes, but industrial is up like 25%, right?

是的，但是工業板塊上漲了大約 25%，對吧？

Sorry?

對不起？

The industrial is up like 25% year-over-year, so I mean, what's going on sequentially?

工業板塊年增了約 25%，那麼，環比來看情況如何呢？

Stacy, in the first quarter, if you back into the guidance, industrial would be up in the mid-teens. And the B2B markets, as Prashanth mentioned, are forecast to be up in the high single digits over the prior year in the first quarter on a 13 -- to 13-week basis. So into a quarter, that is typically lower on a seasonality basis, particularly for industrial given that you have the holiday period for the factories.

Stacy，如果按照先前的預測，第一季工業成長應該在15%左右。正如 Prashanth 所提到的，預計 B2B 市場在第一季（以 13 週為週期）將比去年同期成長接近兩位數。因此，以季節性因素來看，季度末的產量通常會降低，尤其是工業產量，因為工廠會經歷假期。

But I mean, you always have a holiday period in that quarter, right?

但我的意思是，那個季度總會有假期，對吧？

Correct. I'm just saying on a sequential basis.

正確的。我只是按順序來說。

Yes, I mean, C.J. -- sorry, Stacy, we're headed into a seasonally weaker quarter. We read the order flows and we provide you with a guidance range that we think is reasonable. You can choose to take the midpoint of that range. It creates a high single-digit growth in the B2B markets over the prior year. That's the best we can tell you. The other thing I'll point out is we did beat the midpoint of the guidance in the prior quarter by 260- basis points, so we're certainly coming off of a pretty strong result. And I think the year-over-year growth rate is really what we would look to in terms of how we think about running the business and the success of our business. So I hope that's helpful. Did you have a follow-up?

是的，我的意思是，C.J.——抱歉，Stacy，我們即將進入一個季節性淡季。我們會分析訂單流，並為您提供我們認為合理的指導範圍。您可以選擇取該範圍的中間值。與前一年相比，它為B2B市場帶來了接近兩位數的成長。我們只能告訴你這些了。我還要指出的是，我們上一季的業績比預期中位數高出 260 個基點，所以我們目前的業績確實非常強勁。我認為，就我們如何看待業務運營和業務成功而言，我們真正應該關注的是同比增速。希望這能有所幫助。您有後續跟進嗎？

I did. I wanted to ask about automotive. So it's kind of flattish year-over-year -- I mean, sequentially but also year-over-year on a combined basis with Linear, which is a little bit at odds with what we're seeing from some peers. It also maybe sounds like a little bit at odds with what you're seeing on your A2B market and the growth in there. So can you talk a little bit about the auto dynamics, in particular, on a year-over-year basis? When does it start to grow? And what's been going on this last year?

我做了。我想問一些關於汽車方面的問題。所以，與去年同期相比，成長比較平緩——我的意思是，從環比來看是這樣，而且與Linear合併後的同比數據也是如此，這與我們從一些同行那裡看到的情況有點矛盾。這聽起來可能與您在 A2B 市場中看到的情況以及該市場的成長情況有些矛盾。那麼，您能否談談汽車產業的動態發展情況，特別是從年度數據來看？它什麼時候開始生長？過去一年都發生了什麼事？

Sure, Stacy. So yes, yes, okay. So if you look at the legacy ADI business during '17, that part of our automotive business grew in the high single digits. Where we had some headwind was specifically because of the continuing battery management weakness in the LTC portfolio. So that whole BMS thing, that whole markets is highly concentrated in terms of customers and programs. So really, what we're seeing is still a working off of the inventories in China, but the pipeline that we have in BMS designs is good. And so we see that business recovering during '18 as several of these new customer programs start to come online. So I think by the end of '18, we'll be on a good growth track in that business. But that is the primary dampening effect, if you like, on our automotive business. And as we said at the Analyst Day, we expect this business to grow at 2 to 3x SAAR, and that's still our commitment.

當然可以，斯黛西。是的，好的。因此，如果你回顧一下 2017 年的傳統 ADI 業務，就會發現我們汽車業務的這一部分實現了接近兩位數的成長。我們遇到的一些不利因素主要是由於 LTC 產品組合中電池管理方面的持續疲軟。所以整個樓宇管理系統（BMS）市場，就客戶和專案而言，高度集中。所以實際上，我們看到的仍然是利用中國的庫存，但我們在電池管理系統設計方面的產品線是好的。因此，我們看到，隨著幾個新的客戶計劃開始上線，該業務在 2018 年開始復甦。所以我認為到 2018 年底，我們這項業務將走上良好的成長軌道。但可以說，這是我們汽車業務的主要抑制因素。正如我們在分析師日上所說，我們預計這項業務將以 2 到 3 倍的 SAAR 速度成長，這仍然是我們的承諾。

Our next question is from Mark Lipacis with Jefferies.

下一個問題來自傑富瑞集團的馬克·利帕西斯。

If you look at the operating margins, they've expanded over -- by about 450- basis points over the last year, 950 bps over the last 3 years. And I was wondering, is there a physical limit to the margin profile here? Is there any reason why they would not continue to drift up over time?

如果看一下營業利潤率，就會發現過去一年增長了約 450 個基點，過去三年增長了約 950 個基點。我想知道，這種邊際分佈是否有物理極限？它們為何不會隨著時間而繼續上漲？

Mark, I would probably take you back to the financial model, and that's the -- that's where we have modeled out how this business is going to -- is expected to operate over the next several years. So we have some favorability movement now. We've talked about utilization rates. We've talked about bringing in synergies a little earlier than possible. But I would say that the way to think about it is to really hold us with -- to that model because that's how -- the standard we hold ourselves to.

馬克，我可能會帶你回到財務模型，我們已經用模型預測了這家企業在未來幾年內的營運狀況。所以現在出現了一些利好情緒的轉變。我們已經討論過利用率了。我們已經討論過要比預期更早引入協同效應。但我認為，思考這個問題的正確方法是真正堅持這個模式，因為這就是我們要求自己的標準。

And a follow-up, if I may. The -- if you look at previous industries that have consolidated, you do see an upward bias on -- or better pricing environment. The analog industry has been consolidating. You guys have been an important driver of that. Can you describe -- Prashanth, I know that you had mentioned pricing as one area of focus as you head into this opportunity. Can you describe what you have been seeing on the pricing environment over the years? Are there -- are you noticing changes?

如果可以的話，我想問一個後續問題。如果你看看以前那些已經整合的產業，你會發現價格或定價環境普遍存在上漲趨勢。類比電路產業一直在進行整合。你們在這方面發揮了重要的推動作用。Prashanth，您能描述一下嗎？我知道您曾提到定價是您把握這次機會時需要關注的重點領域之一。您能否描述一下這些年來您在價格環境下觀察到的情況？你注意到有什麼變化嗎？

Yes, Mark, I'm going to let Vince take that since he has a bit longer perspective on pricing and the trends that we're seeing.

是的，馬克，我會讓文斯來做這件事，因為他對定價和我們目前看到的趨勢有更長遠的眼光。

Yes, I think it's true to say that, certainly, consolidation has helped to stabilize prices across the industry. We're also seeing stabilization partly because of the environment in which we are working, but also because we're paying a lot more attention to getting -- understanding where there's elasticity and just basically holding onto the value that we generate better. So I think it's a trend, and we're certainly seeing a stabilizing trend across our business over the last 2 or 3 years, and I believe that stability will continue.

是的，我認為可以肯定地說，整合確實有助於穩定整個產業的價格。我們看到市場趨於穩定，部分原因是我們所處的環境，但也因為我們更專注於了解市場彈性所在，並且更能維持我們創造的價值。所以我認為這是一種趨勢，在過去的2到3年裡，我們確實看到公司業務呈現出趨於穩定的趨勢，我相信這種穩定狀態將會持續下去。

And Mark, I would only add from my personal observation, is we -- there's a broad section of the ADI portfolio that is very sticky. And we need to ensure that we take advantage of that to ensure that we're getting fair value for the value -- for the technology that we bring to our customers, and that could represent some pricing opportunities.

馬克，根據我個人的觀察，我只想補充一點，我們——ADI投資組合中有很大一部分非常黏性。我們需要確保利用這一點，確保我們為客戶提供的技術能夠獲得公平的價值，這可能代表著一些定價機會。

Our next question is from Tore Svanberg with Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 公司的 Tore Svanberg。

Congratulations to Prashanth and to Ali. My first question is on communications. So it's starting to grow nicely year-over-year again. I was just hoping you could add a little bit more color on what's driving that, especially in relation to topics like 4.5G, 5G, optical and so on.

恭喜 Prashanth 和 Ali。我的第一個問題是關於溝通方面的。所以它又開始逐年穩定成長了。我只是希望您能更詳細地解釋一下推動這一趨勢的原因，尤其是在 4.5G、5G、光纖等相關主題方面。

Yes, sure, Tore. So the communications business, as you know, is driven by 2 primary sectors. We've seen wireless infrastructure particularly strong. It was up over the prior quarter and driven by demand in developing regions like India, for example, but also in more developed markets like North America and China. We've seen both macro and small cell strength. And I'll give you a little more color in terms of technology in a second before I -- after I make a comment on the wireline side of things. So it's well known that the wireline business, particularly the optical part of that, has shown weakness in China over the past year. So that's been the damper there. I think the wireless sector is going to see some good growth in the coming 3 to 5 years. And I'll give you a little bit of color on that. As I see it, the -- there's good activity still on 4G, heavy activity in 4.5G, and 5G is in trials right now. But I think the boundaries between 4.5 and 5G are bloating to some extent. Both of them are going to be based on massive MIMO, and the indications are that, that market is going to start to ramp in the latter part of 2018, into 2019 and won't hit peak until 2020. But as I said, we're seeing, for example, activity where customers, our existing customers, are targeting at extending life of 4G systems. So there's activity in upgrading 4G, introducing 4.5G and getting 5G into play. So as I said, I think with all the demands for mobile data, we're still working hard on the classical problems of integration, design agility, power consumption. And with our LTC, the acquisition of LTC, we have a very strong power portfolio. So we're in a better and better position as a company to take advantage of these trends across the board. So whatever the configuration that customers use in 4, 4.5, 5G, ADI is very well prepared to satisfy our customers' needs.

是的，當然，托雷。如你所知，通訊產業主要由兩大部門驅動。我們看到無線基礎設施尤其強大。與上一季相比有所成長，這主要得益於印度等發展中地區的需求，以及北美和中國等較發達市場的需求。我們已經看到了宏基地台和小基地台的強度。在我評論完有線方面的內容之後，我稍後會再詳細介紹一下技術方面的情況。眾所周知，過去一年來，中國的有線業務，特別是光纖業務，表現疲軟。所以這就是阻礙因素。我認為未來3到5年無線通訊產業將會出現良好的成長。我再給你補充一些細節。依我看來，4G 網路仍然很活躍，4.5G 網路非常活躍，而 5G 網路目前正在試驗中。但我認為 4.5G 和 5G 之間的界線在某種程度上被模糊化了。它們都將基於大規模 MIMO 技術，種種跡象表明，該市場將在 2018 年下半年到 2019 年開始成長，並於 2020 年達到頂峰。但正如我所說，例如，我們看到一些客戶，也就是我們現有的客戶，正在致力於延長 4G 系統的使用壽命。因此，目前正在積極推動 4G 升級、4.5G 引入和 5G 投入使用。正如我所說，我認為儘管對行動數據的需求不斷增長，我們仍然在努力解決整合、設計靈活性、功耗等傳統問題。加上我們對 LTC 的收購，我們擁有了非常強大的電力產品組合。因此，作為一家公司，我們越來越有能力全面利用這些趨勢。因此，無論客戶在 4G、4.5G、5G 中使用何種配置，ADI 都已做好充分準備，滿足客戶的需求。

That's very helpful. And for my follow-up for Prashanth, so you talked about utilization being up sequentially. Can you talk about where you stand on utilization today? And maybe more certain, in general, where you are on in-house versus outside outsourcing at this point, especially given some of the fiber capacity that's out there at the wafer level?

那很有幫助。Prashanth，我接下來要問的是，你提到利用率較上月上升。能談談目前貴公司在資源使用率上的狀況嗎？而且，整體而言，您目前對內部開發與外部外包的看法可能更加明確，尤其是在晶圓級光纖產能方面？

Yes, sure. Thank you. So I think your first question is utilization levels. So Q3 -- sorry, excuse me, Q4 was a significant improvement for us in utilization. We don't share specific utilization percentage rate, but it's fair to say that we were extremely busy internally in our fabs. And on the balance between now that we have the LTC operation in -- consolidated, we're about 50-50 split between what we do in-house and what we give to third parties or our channel partners.

當然可以。謝謝。所以我認為你的第一個問題是利用率水準。所以，第三季——抱歉，應該是第四季——我們的利用率有了顯著提高。我們不透露具體的利用率百分比，但可以肯定的是，我們工廠內部的生產非常繁忙。而現在，隨著 LTC 業務的整合，我們內部完成的工作和外包給第三方或通路合作夥伴的工作之間，大約各佔 50%。

Our final question comes from Ambrish Srivastava with BMO.

最後一個問題來自 BMO 的 Ambrish Srivastava。

This is Gabriel Ho calling in for Ambrish. So I'm just looking at the core, ADI business is up 14% year-over-year, and then your Linear is up 5%. So what is driving the differences in year-to-year performance? And also going forward, how should we think about maybe the 2 business to come work as you integrate the 2 businesses?

這裡是 Gabriel Ho，替 Ambrish 打電話來。所以我只看核心業務，ADI 業務年增 14%，而 Linear 業務成長了 5%。那麼，造成年度業績差異的原因是什麼呢？展望未來，在整合這兩家企業的過程中，我們該如何考慮讓這兩家企業繼續合作？

So -- I'm sorry, I did not catch your name.

抱歉，我沒聽清楚你的名字。

This is Gabriel Ho.

這是何嘉偉。

Gabriel. Sorry, sorry. Thank you, Gabriel. All right. So I would say a few things. First, LTC's industrial business grew double digits year-over-year. So that's very much in line with how the peers are doing. The automotive business, Vince has already spoken to. The inventory unwind and what's happening there. So overall, we're comfortable with where LTC is. I think, historically, an investor pain point for LTC has been their focus on managing the business for gross margins versus a balance of revenue growth, and that is part of what the integration process is driving and bringing them into ADI's mindset about profitable growth to deliver the EBIT margin and the free cash flow. So as we look forward, I think that's very much into what we look to merge with the organization is to bring that top line focus into LTC, which, for some of the organization, hasn't been as strong as in ADI.

加布里埃爾。對不起，對不起。謝謝你，加布里埃爾。好的。所以我想說幾點。首先，LTC的工業業務年增了兩位數。所以這與同儕的表現非常一致。Vince已經和汽車業方面談過了。庫存清算以及那裡正在發生的事情。總的來說，我們對長期照護的現狀感到滿意。我認為，從歷史上看，LTC 投資者的一個痛點是他們過於注重毛利率而非收入增長的平衡，而這正是整合過程的一部分，旨在讓他們融入 ADI 的盈利增長理念，從而實現 EBIT 利潤率和自由現金流。所以展望未來，我認為我們希望與該組織合併的關鍵在於將這種注重業績的理念帶入長期護理領域，而對於該組織的部分成員來說，長期護理領域的業績並不像在 ADI 領域那樣強勁。

I see. And as a follow-up, I think now that the 2 businesses are combined, I think setting the 13-, 14-week quarter aside, so how should we think about in general the seasonality of your business for each quarter on a quarterly basis going forward?

我懂了。作為後續問題，我認為既然兩家公司已經合併，暫且不考慮 13、14 週的季度，那麼我們該如何看待貴公司未來每季的季節性變化？

Yes, Gabriel, I'll just take that. I think the way to think about it is that the ADI and Linear Tech B2B markets actually behave quite similarly on a seasonal basis. And what I would encourage you to do is we placed a schedule on our website that tracks the end market revenue by quarter for the combined companies and suggest that you can go back and calculate what you think seasonality would be because going forward, it's our sense that these 2 businesses, certainly in the B2B markets, track actually pretty similarly.

是的，加布里埃爾，我就收下這個。我認為應該這樣理解：ADI 和 Linear Tech 的 B2B 市場在季節性方面實際上表現得非常相似。我建議您參考我們在網站上發布的季度末市場收入追蹤表，該表記錄了合併後兩家公司的最終市場收入。您可以回顧這些數據，計算您認為的季節性因素，因為我們認為，展望未來，這兩家公司，尤其是在 B2B 市場，其發展軌跡實際上非常相似。

So okay. I hope that was helpful. Thank you again for joining us this morning for the call. A copy of this transcript will be available on our website. And all the reconciliations and additional information can be found on the Quarterly Results section of our Investor Relations site at investor.analog.com. So with that, thank you for joining us, and have a Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

好的。希望這對您有所幫助。再次感謝您今天上午參加我們的電話會議。這份成績單的副本將在我們的網站上提供。所有對帳資訊和補充資訊都可以在我們投資者關係網站 investor.analog.com 的季度業績部分找到。那麼，感謝各位的收看，祝大家感恩節快樂！

This concludes today's Analog Devices conference call. You may now disconnect.

今天的Analog Devices電話會議到此結束。您現在可以斷開連線了。