科磊 (KLAC) 2022 Q2 法說會逐字稿

I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the KLA Corporation December Quarter 2021 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. (Operator Instructions)

今天我將擔任各位的會議主持人。現在，我歡迎大家參加 KLA 公司 2021 年 12 月季度業績電話會議及網路直播。 （接線生指示）

I will now turn the call over to Kevin Kessel, Vice President of Investor Relations and Market Analytics. Please go ahead.

現在我將把電話轉給投資者關係和市場分析副總裁 Kevin Kessel。請您發言。

Thank you, Leo, and welcome to KLA's Fiscal Q2 2022 Quarterly Earnings Call to discuss the results of the December quarter and the outlook for the March quarter. With me on today's call is Rick Wallace, our Chief Executive Officer; and Bren Higgins, our Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝Leo，歡迎參加KLA 2022財年第二季財報電話會議，我們將討論12月季度的業績以及3月季度的展望。今天與我一起參加電話會議的還有我們的執行長Rick Wallace和財務長Bren Higgins。

During this call, we will discuss quarterly results for the period ended December 31, 2021, released this afternoon after the market closed. You can find the press release, shareholder letter, slide deck and infographic on the KLA IR section of our website.

本次電話會議將討論今天下午收盤後發布的截至2021年12月31日的季度業績。您可以在我們網站的KLA IR板塊找到新聞稿、股東信、幻燈片和資訊圖表。

Today's discussion is presented on a non-GAAP financial basis unless otherwise specified. And whenever we make references to full year business performance, it can be understood to be a calendar year. A detailed reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results is in the earnings materials posted on our website.

除非另有說明，今天的討論均基於非 GAAP 財務基礎。我們提及全年業績時，通常指自然年度。 GAAP 與非 GAAP 業績的詳細對帳表已發佈於我們網站上的財報資料中。

Our IR website also contains future investor events as well as presentations, corporate governance information and links to our SEC filings, including the most recent annual report and quarterly reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q. Our comments today are subject to risks and uncertainties reflected in the risk factors disclosure in our SEC filings.

我們的投資者關係網站還包含未來投資者活動、演示文稿、公司治理資訊以及我們提交給美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 的文件鏈接，包括最新的年度報告以及 10-K 和 10-Q 表格中的季度報告。我們今天的評論受我們提交給美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 文件中風險因素揭露中反映的風險和不確定性的影響。

Any forward-looking statements, including those we make on the call today, are also subject to those risks, and KLA cannot guarantee those forward-looking statements will come true. Our actual results may differ significantly from those projected in our forward-looking statements.

任何前瞻性陳述，包括我們今天在電話會議上所做的陳述，都可能受到這些風險的影響，KLA 無法保證這些前瞻性陳述一定會實現。我們的實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述中的預測有顯著差異。

Let me now turn the call over to our Chief Executive Officer, Rick Wallace. Rick?

現在，我將電話轉給我們的執行長 Rick Wallace。 Rick？

Thanks, Kevin. Before summarizing KLA's results for calendar year 2021 and for the December quarter, I'd like to first acknowledge and thank the global KLA team. The dedication and hard work of our teams never wavered despite challenging conditions, delivering for customers and managing around a complex global supply chain during a period of unprecedented industry shortages.

謝謝，凱文。在總結 KLA 2021 年度和 12 月季度的業績之前，我想先感謝 KLA 的全球團隊。儘管面臨挑戰，我們團隊的奉獻精神和辛勤工作從未動搖，在行業前所未有的短缺時期，我們為客戶提供服務，並管理複雜的全球供應鏈。

It was the day-to-day drive to be better that drove KLA's market leadership, resulting in record growth and financial performance across the board for the company in the December quarter and for 2021. KLA also delivered record returns to shareholders in 2021 through our dividend and share repurchase programs with returns to shareholders totaling over $2 billion.

正是日復一日的精益求精推動了 KLA 的市場領導地位，使得公司在 12 月季度和 2021 年實現了全面創紀錄的成長和財務業績。 KLA 也透過我們的股利和股票回購計畫在 2021 年為股東帶來了創紀錄的回報，股東回報總額超過 20 億美元。

KLA's strong results demonstrate our track record of relative strength and revenue growth and superior financial performance compared with semiconductor industry peers in a dynamic and growing wafer fab equipment industry as well as the long-term value created by employee and consistently refining our KLA operating model. Since our founding in 1976, KLA's mission has been focused on using our expertise and innovative thinking to overcome monumental technological challenges.

KLA 的強勁業績體現了我們在蓬勃發展的晶圓廠設備行業中，相對於半導體同行而言的相對優勢、收入增長和卓越的財務業績，以及我們員工創造的長期價值以及 KLA 運營模式的持續改進。自 1976 年成立以來，KLA 的使命始終專注於運用我們的專業知識和創新思維來克服巨大的技術挑戰。

KLA is advancing humanity with technologies and ideas that inspire action. Our results in the December quarter and for 2021, demonstrate ongoing success of these strategies. So thank you to all our teams for contributing to KLA's enduring success. 2021 was another year of record growth, profitability and free cash flow for KLA, as we successfully navigated unprecedented challenges in the marketplace, responding to record demand across the vast majority of our markets, while adapting to the evolving operational complexities associated with the global pandemic.

KLA 正以激勵行動的技術和理念推動人類進步。我們在 12 月季度和 2021 年的業績證明了這些策略的持續成功。感謝所有團隊為 KLA 的持久成功做出的貢獻。 2021 年是 KLA 成長、獲利能力和自由現金流再創紀錄的一年，我們成功應對了前所未有的市場挑戰，響應了絕大多數市場創紀錄的需求，同時適應了全球疫情帶來的不斷變化的營運複雜性。

Through it all, we remained focused on delivering to our customers' requirements and driving strong returns to shareholders in a rapidly growing industry demand environment. In 2021, revenue grew 34% to $8.2 billion, marking the sixth consecutive year of revenue growth.

在整個過程中，我們始終專注於滿足客戶需求，並在快速成長的產業需求環境中為股東帶來豐厚回報。 2021年，營收成長34%，達到82億美元，連續第六年實現營收成長。

KLA's strong revenue growth in 2021 was driven by 46% growth in the semiconductor process control systems. Revenue from the services business grew 14% in the year, with over 75% of the revenue generated from recurring subscription-like contracts, reflecting the growing value of added process control systems and services in our product portfolio.

KLA 2021 年強勁的營收成長得益於半導體製程控制系統 46% 的成長。服務業務的收入年增 14%，其中超過 75% 的收入來自定期訂閱式合同，這反映了我們產品組合中新增過程控制系統和服務的價值不斷增長。

KLA also demonstrated strong operating leverage on our revenue growth in 2021 with non-GAAP operating profit and non-GAAP earnings per share growing 54% and 61%, respectively. Incremental operating margin on the revenue growth in 2021 was 57%, consistently above our target operating leverage model of 40% to 50% for the second year in a row.

KLA 在 2021 年的營收成長中也展現出強勁的營運槓桿，非公認會計準則 (Non-GAAP) 營業利潤和非公認會計準則每股收益分別成長 54% 和 61%。 2021 年營收成長帶來的增量營運利潤率為 57%，連續第二年高於我們 40% 至 50% 的目標營運槓桿模型。

Free cash flow also grew a healthy 43% in 2021 to a record $2.5 billion. Consistent with our long-term strategic objectives, KLA delivered on our ongoing commitment to return value to shareholders, including our 12th consecutive dividend increase announced in July 2021, along with an additional $2 billion share repurchase program.

2021年，自由現金流也健康成長43%，達到創紀錄的25億美元。秉承我們的長期策略目標，KLA持續履行了為股東創造價值的承諾，包括於2021年7月宣布連續第12次增加股息，以及額外20億美元的股票回購計畫。

Total returns to shareholders in 2021, including dividend and share repurchases, topped just over $2 billion or approximately 79% of free cash flow. This growth demonstrates success in strengthening our market leadership across our business that we can continue to build upon to drive adoption of KLA solutions in the critical markets we serve. Within the Electronics, Packaging and Component inspection or EPC Group, the Specialty Semiconductor Process segment grew 11% in 2021, and the Printed Circuit Board Display and Component Inspection grew 17% in the year.

2021年，包括股利和股票回購在內的股東總回報略高於20億美元，約佔自由現金流的79%。這一成長表明我們成功鞏固了整個業務領域的市場領導地位，我們可以在此基礎上繼續推進KLA解決方案在我們服務的關鍵市場中的應用。在電子、封裝和元件檢測（EPC集團）中，特種半導體製程部門在2021年成長了11%，印刷電路板顯示器和元件偵測部門在2021年成長了17%。

The strong relative performance for KLA reflects our market leadership and diversification and was driven by secular industry growth trends across multiple end markets. We ended 2021 with an exceptionally strong backlog and began what we anticipate being a seventh consecutive year of growth for KLA. We enter 2022 executing at a high level and operating from a position of strength in our marketplace despite persistent supply chain challenges.

KLA 強勁的業績表現反映了我們的市場領導地位和多元化策略，並受到多個終端市場長期行業成長趨勢的推動。 2021 年，我們以異常強勁的訂單量收官，並開啟了我們預計 KLA 連續第七年實現成長的序幕。儘管供應鏈挑戰持續存在，但我們仍將以高水準執行，並在市場中保持優勢地位，邁入 2022 年。

This momentum sets the stage for KLA to continue to outperform the market while demonstrating superior financial performance and maintaining our capital returns. Turning now to focus on the December quarter results where we saw diversified strength across our business. Today, demand environment continues to demonstrate accelerated adoption of a broad spectrum of semiconductor and electronic industry growth trends.

這一勢頭為KLA繼續跑贏市場奠定了基礎，同時展現出卓越的財務表現並保持資本回報。現在讓我們專注於12月季度的業績，我們業務的多元化發展勢頭強勁。如今，需求環境持續展現出半導體和電子產業廣泛成長趨勢的加速應用。

Technology is transforming how we live and work and the data-driven economy is fundamentally changing how businesses operate and deliver value. This digital transformation is enabling secular demand drivers such as high-performance computing, artificial intelligence, growth in new automotive electronics and strong growth in data centers and 5G communication markets.

科技正在改變我們的生活和工作方式，數據驅動型經濟正在從根本上改變企業營運和創造價值的方式。數位轉型正在賦能長期需求驅動因素，例如高效能運算、人工智慧、新型汽車電子產品的成長以及資料中心和5G通訊市場的強勁成長。

Each of these secular trends are driving investment and innovation and advanced memory and logic semiconductor devices as well as new and increasingly more complex advanced packaging and PCB technologies. With our market leadership in process control, and growth and expansion in new markets like Specialty Semiconductor Process equipment, PCB and finished die inspection in our EPC group, KLA is essential to enabling our increasing digital world.

這些長期趨勢都在推動投資和創新，推動先進的記憶體和邏輯半導體元件，以及日益複雜的新型封裝和 PCB 技術的發展。憑藉我們在製程控制領域的市場領先地位，以及 EPC 集團在特種半導體製程設備、PCB 和成品晶片檢測等新興市場的成長和擴張，KLA 對於我們日益數位化的世界至關重要。

To make this happen, KLA continues to prioritize and invest in R&D, which totaled $1 billion in calendar 2021, double the level of 5 years ago and growing at a 15% compound annual growth rate. With this favorable backdrop and our demonstrated track record of investing heavily in R&D to drive product differentiation and consistently meeting or exceeding our commitments to customers and shareholders, our performance enabled KLA to outperform the 2023 long-term financial model targets that we set 2 years ago, 2 years ahead of expectations.

為了實現這一目標，KLA 持續優先考慮並投入研發資金。 2021 年，KLA 研發投入總額達 10 億美元，是五年前的兩倍，年複合成長率達 15%。憑藉這一有利條件，加上我們大力投資研發以推動產品差異化，並始終如一地履行或超越對客戶和股東的承諾，我們的業績使 KLA 能夠超越兩年前設定的 2023 年長期財務模型目標，比預期提前兩年。

Moving along to the top highlights from the December 2021 quarter. First, we saw continued strength and consistency in foundry logic customer revenue for both leading edge and legacy technologies in the December quarter. As expected, memory demand also grew in the period. Calendar 2022 is setting up to be another year of strong growth for WFE.

接下來回顧2021年12月季度的亮點。首先，我們看到12月季度，無論是尖端技術還是傳統技術，代工邏輯客戶的收入都保持強勁且穩定。正如預期的那樣，在此期間，記憶體需求也實現了成長。 2022年將是WFE又一個強勁成長的年份。

We see demand momentum throughout 2022 across our major end markets. The strength in demand we're seeing reflects KLA's essential role in supporting our customers' drive to innovate and continue to invest in future technology nodes. In foundry and logic, simultaneous investments across multiple nodes and rising capital intensity continues to be a tailwind. In memory, demand remains broad-based across multiple customers, and we expect another year of double-digit growth in 2022 with NAND growing faster than DRAM; second, KLA is seeing strong demand across the breadth of our industry-leading optical inspection portfolio as we have maintained our momentum in one of the fastest-growing markets in WFE.

我們看到，2022年全年，我們主要終端市場的需求動能強勁。強勁的需求反映了KLA在支援客戶創新動力和持續投資未來技術節點方面發揮的重要作用。在晶圓代工和邏輯領域，跨多個節點的同步投資以及不斷提升的資本密集度繼續成為利多因素。在記憶體領域，多個客戶的需求依然廣泛，我們預計2022年將再次實現兩位數成長，其中NAND的成長速度將超過DRAM；其次，由於我們在WFE成長最快的市場之一保持了強勁勢頭，KLA在我們業界領先的光學檢測產品組合中看到了強勁的需求。

Wafer inspection systems revenues grew 54% in 2021, far outpacing the WFE market, which is estimated to have grown 40%. We're experiencing strong growth across our wafer inspection portfolio from broadband plasma, laser scanning, unpatterned bare wafer inspection, macro inspection and e-beam products.

2021年，晶圓檢測系統營收成長了54%，遠超過WFE市場（預計增幅為40%）。我們的晶圓檢測產品組合（包括寬頻等離子、雷射掃描、無圖案裸晶圓檢測、宏觀檢測和電子束產品）均呈現強勁成長。

This quarter, we highlight macro inspection, which is growing at a pace of 1.5x WFE driven by growth in automotive and other specialty markets where KLA has defensible market leadership with a platform uniquely positioned to address growing technical complexity and tighter design rules; third, success in KLA's strategic growth and market diversification strategies are being demonstrated by growth in EPC.

本季度，我們重點介紹宏觀檢查，該領域以 1.5 倍 WFE 的速度增長，這主要得益於汽車和其他專業市場的增長，在這些市場中，KLA 擁有可防禦的市場領導地位，其平台具有獨特的優勢，可以應對日益增長的技術複雜性和更嚴格的設計規則；第三，EPC 的增長證明了 KLA 戰略增長和市場多元化市場的成功戰略。

Systems revenue from KLA's Electronics, Packaging and Components, or EPC group, grew 20% in 2021. With EPC, KLA is diversifying our market leadership with a portfolio of solutions addressing fast-growing new markets in the electronics value chain, including RF, specialty semiconductors, automotive, PCB, advanced packaging and display; fourth, service revenue grew 14% in 2021 to $1.8 billion and continues to sustain a growth rate above its long-term target of 9% to 11%. For the quarter, services revenue was $457 million or 19% of total revenue. Annual services revenue is quickly approaching $2 billion and has grown 81% in the past 3 years.

2021年，KLA電子、封裝和組件（EPC）集團的系統收入成長了20%。憑藉EPC，KLA正在透過一系列解決方案組合來拓展市場領導地位，這些解決方案旨在滿足電子價值鏈中快速增長的新興市場的需求，包括射頻、特種半導體、汽車、印刷電路板 (PCB)、先進封裝和顯示器；第四，服務收入在2021年增長了14%，達到18億美元，並繼續保持高於其長期目標的目標。本季度，服務收入為4.57億美元，佔總收入的19%。年度服務收入正迅速接近20億美元，在過去三年中成長了81%。

This growth has been driven by the rising installed base and increasing adoption of subscription-like contracts. Over 75% of service revenue in the Semiconductor Process Control segment, and over 90% of services in the printed circuit board business come from recurring subscription-like contracts.

這一增長主要得益於客戶群的不斷增長以及訂閱式合約的日益普及。半導體製程控制業務超過75%的服務收入以及印刷電路板業務超過90%的服務收入均來自定期訂閱式合約。

Finally, the December quarter was another exceptional one from a free cash flow perspective, capping a year in which KLA generated over $2.5 billion in free cash flow and returned over $2 billion to shareholders. In the December quarter, we generated strong quarterly free cash flow of $746 million, which helped drive 43% growth in free cash flow in 2021. We've also maintained focus on returning capital to shareholders via our dividend and share repurchase program, which rose 63% year-over-year on a combined basis.

最後，從自由現金流的角度來看，12月季再次表現優異。 KLA在本財年創造了超過25億美元的自由現金流，並向股東返還了超過20億美元。在12月季度，我們創造了7.46億美元的強勁季度自由現金流，這推動了2021年自由現金流成長43%。我們也持續致力於透過股利和股票回購計畫向股東返還資本，這兩個計畫的合計年增了63%。

Before Bren gets into greater detail on our financial highlights and guidance, let me briefly summarize. Despite the persistent disruption and continued challenges associated with the pandemic, particularly around the supply chain and component availability, KLA is consistently delivering strong revenue growth, financial results and returns to shareholders.

在Bren詳細介紹我們的財務亮點和業績指引之前，我先簡單總結一下。儘管疫情持續帶來幹擾和挑戰，尤其是在供應鏈和零件供應方面，KLA仍持續保持強勁的營收成長、財務表現和股東回報。

KLA is well positioned at the forefront of technological innovation with a comprehensive portfolio of products targeting the most demanding inspection and measurement challenges in the marketplace. I also want to provide a quick update on our ESG activities. On December 16, KLA announced setting a goal to use 100% renewable electricity across our global operations by 2030. Managing the impacts of our business in terms of ESG stewardship is an integral part of KLA's mission to advance humanity. This includes contributing to creating a more sustainable future.

KLA 憑藉全面的產品組合，始終站在技術創新的前沿，致力於應對市場上最嚴苛的檢測和測量挑戰。我還想簡單介紹一下我們的 ESG 活動。 12 月 16 日，KLA 宣布了一項目標，即到 2030 年，在全球營運中實現 100% 使用再生電力。從 ESG 管理的角度來管理業務影響力是 KLA 推動人類進步使命的重要組成部分。這包括為創造更永續的未來做出貢獻。

With that, I'll pass the call over to Bren to cover our financial highlights, outlook and guidance. Bren?

說完這些，我將把電話轉給布倫，讓他介紹我們的財務亮點、展望和指導。布倫？

Thank you, Rick. KLA's December quarter and 2021 results highlight the continuation of strong execution in a dynamic and challenging market environment. We continue to demonstrate our ability to meet customer needs and expand our market leadership, while growing operating profits, generating record free cash flow and maintaining our long-term strategy of productive capital allocation.

謝謝你，里克。 KLA 12月季及2021年的業績凸顯了在充滿活力和挑戰的市場環境中持續強勁的執行力。我們持續展現出滿足客戶需求和擴大市場領導地位的能力，同時實現營業利潤成長、創造創紀錄的自由現金流，並維持我們長期有效的資本配置策略。

The December quarter capped off a year in 2021 that was defined by strong growth and profitability across multiple areas of our business. We also invested almost $1 billion in R&D to sustain our success and $250 million in capital expenditures to grow our global infrastructure to support our industry growth thesis. All this was accomplished while simultaneously continuing to return high levels of capital to shareholders.

12月季為2021年畫上了圓滿的句點。這一年，我們多個業務領域實現了強勁成長和獲利。我們也投入了近10億美元用於研發，以維持業績成長；並投入2.5億美元用於拓展全球基礎設施，以支持我們產業成長的理念。所有這些成就的實現，同時持續為股東帶來高資本回報。

Total revenue in the December quarter was $2.35 billion, above the midpoint of the guided range of the quarter of $2.225 billion to $2.425 billion and up 13% sequentially versus the September quarter. Non-GAAP gross margin was 63.1%, just above the midpoint of the guided range of 62% to 64%. GAAP diluted EPS was $4.71 and non-GAAP diluted EPS was $5.59, each within the guidance range.

12月季總營收為23.5億美元，高於本季22.25億美元至24.25億美元預期區間的中點，季增13%。非公認會計準則毛利率為63.1%，略高於62%至64%預期區間的中點。公認會計準則稀釋每股收益為4.71美元，非公認會計準則稀釋每股收益為5.59美元，皆在預期區間內。

Gross margins were 63.1% and in line with expectations as product mix and factory expenses ended the quarter mostly as planned. KLA's gross margin reflects the value we deliver to the marketplace and our competitive differentiation. To improve on our ability to meet our customer needs, we are also making meaningful investments in our global workforce, supply chain and factory infrastructure to position KLA to deliver our products in this growing demand environment.

毛利率為63.1%，符合預期，因為本季末的產品組合和工廠支出基本上符合計畫。 KLA的毛利率反映了我們為市場提供的價值和競爭差異化優勢。為了提升滿足客戶需求的能力，我們也在全球員工、供應鏈和工廠基礎設施方面進行了重大投資，以確保KLA能夠在日益增長的需求環境中交付產品。

Total non-GAAP operating expenses were slightly below the midpoint of the guided range of $465 million, including $265 million of R&D expense and $200 million of SG&A. Non-GAAP operating income as a percentage of revenue was 43.4% in the December quarter. KLA's innovation is fundamental to our go-to-market strategy focused on differentiated solutions.

非公認會計準則 (Non-GAAP) 總營運支出略低於 4.65 億美元的指導區間中位數，其中包括 2.65 億美元的研發支出和 2 億美元的銷售、行政及行政管理費用 (SG&A)。 12 月季度，非公認會計準則 (Non-GAAP) 營運利潤佔收入的 43.4%。 KLA 的創新是我們專注於差異化解決方案的行銷策略的基石。

R&D is at the heart of what we do and remains a key element in driving our portfolio strategy, new product introduction cadence and product differentiation. This in turn helps sustain our technology and market leadership. Given the rapid growth of the business over the last couple of years and our revenue expectations going forward, we expect the company's operating expenses to continue to grow as we invest in global infrastructure and systems to scale the KLA operating model, as well as new product development programs and volume-dependent resources to support our business expansion.

研發是我們工作的核心，也是推動我們產品組合策略、新產品發布節奏和產品差異化的關鍵要素。這反過來有助於我們保持技術和市場領先地位。鑑於過去幾年業務的快速成長以及我們對未來收入的預期，我們預計公司的營運費用將繼續成長，因為我們將投資全球基礎設施和系統以擴展 KLA 的營運模式，並投入新產品開發項目和與產量相關的資源來支持我們的業務擴張。

Furthermore, we, as most companies are seeing a strong labor market driving cost pressure across our global workforce and within outsourced partners. As a result, we expect operating expenses to grow sequentially to approximately $495 million in the March quarter, and we forecast sequential growth in operating expenses to continue through calendar 2022.

此外，與大多數公司一樣，我們正經歷強勁的勞動力市場，這推動了我們全球員工和外包合作夥伴的成本壓力。因此，我們預計3月份季度的營運費用將環比增長至約4.95億美元，並且我們預測營運費用的環比增長將持續到2022年。

While operating expenses are modeled higher going forward as we will make the necessary investments to scale our business to support our long-term structural industry growth thesis, we will continue to size the company based on our target operating model, which delivers 40% to 50% incremental operating margin leverage on revenue growth over a normalized time horizon.

雖然我們將進行必要的投資來擴大業務規模以支持我們的長期結構性行業成長理論，因此未來的營運費用將會更高，但我們將繼續根據我們的目標營運模式來確定公司規模，該模式在正常時間範圍內透過收入成長實現 40% 至 50% 的增量營運利潤率槓桿。

Other interest and expense in the December quarter was $39 million, and the non-GAAP effective tax rate was 13.3%. Though we always have some variability in our tax rate, given the timing and impact of discrete items and the geographic distribution of revenue and profit, we believe it remains prudent to maintain our long-term tax planning rate at 13.5% going forward.

12月季度的其他利息及費用為3,900萬美元，非公認會計準則有效稅率為13.3%。儘管我們的稅率始終存在一些波動，但考慮到單一項目的時間和影響，以及收入和利潤的地理分佈，我們認為在未來將長期納稅規劃稅率維持在13.5%仍然是審慎之舉。

Non-GAAP net income was $851 million. GAAP net income was $717 million. Cash flow from operations was $811 million, and free cash flow was $746 million. This resulted in a free cash flow conversion of 88% and a very healthy free cash flow margin of 32%. The company had approximately 152 million diluted weighted average shares outstanding exiting the quarter.

非公認會計準則淨利為8.51億美元。公認會計準則淨利為7.17億美元。經營活動現金流為8.11億美元，自由現金流為7.46億美元。這使得自由現金流轉換率達到88%，自由現金流利潤率也達到了32%，非常健康。截至本季末，本公司稀釋加權平均流通股數約為1.52億股。

Revenue for the Semiconductor Process Control segment, including its associated service business, was $2.05 billion, up 49% compared with the December 2020 quarter and up 15% sequentially. Semiconductor Process Control systems and service grew 39% in calendar '21 versus calendar 2020.

半導體製程控制部門（包括其相關服務業務）營收為20.5億美元，較2020年12月季成長49%，季增15%。 2021財年半導體製程控制系統及服務業務較2020財年成長39%。

Foundry logic was 71% of the approximate Semiconductor Process Control system customer segment mix in the December quarter and memory was 29%. Within memory, the business was split roughly 54% DRAM and 46% NAND. Revenue for our Electronics, Packaging and Components Group continues to be driven by strength in 5G mobile and infrastructure as well as continued demand in automotive.

12月季度，代工邏輯業務佔半導體製程控制系統客戶細分市場約71%，記憶體業務佔29%。在記憶體業務中，DRAM業務約佔54%，NAND業務約佔46%。電子、封裝和元件集團的收入繼續受到5G移動和基礎設施的強勁增長以及汽車市場持續需求的推動。

More specifically, the Specialty Semiconductor Process segment, which includes its associated service business generated record revenue of $113 million, up 24% over the prior year and up 10% sequentially. Specialty Semiconductor Process systems and service grew 11% for calendar '21. PCB, display and component inspection revenue was $188 million, up 5% year-over-year, but down 7% sequentially. On a full calendar year basis, it grew 17%.

具體而言，包括相關服務業務在內的特種半導體工藝部門創造了創紀錄的1.13億美元收入，較上年增長24%，環比增長10%。特種半導體製程系統和服務在2021年成長了11%。印刷電路板、顯示器和組件檢測業務收入為1.88億美元，年增5%，但季減7%。全年成長了17%。

Our breakdown of revenue by major products and region can be found in the shareholder letter, so I won't cover those here. Turning to the balance sheet. KLA ended the quarter with $2.8 billion in total cash, total debt of $3.4 billion and a flexible and attractive bond maturity profile supported by investment-grade ratings from all 3 agencies. We remain committed to our long-term strategy of cash returns to shareholders, executing a balanced approach split between dividends and share repurchases, targeting long-term returns of 70% or more of free cash flow generated.

我們按主要產品和地區劃分的收入明細，請參閱致股東的信函，因此我在此不再贅述。接下來是資產負債表。 KLA 本季末的總現金為 28 億美元，總債務為 34 億美元，債券期限靈活且有吸引力，並獲得了三家評級機構的投資級評級。我們將繼續致力於長期的股東現金回報策略，在股利和股票回購之間採取均衡分配的方式，目標是實現 70% 或更高的自由現金流長期回報。

In 2021, KLA exceeded our long-term capital returns target, returning over $2 billion to shareholders, including $601 million in dividends paid and $1.4 billion in share repurchases. We believe our track record of delivering strong capital returns is a key component of the KLA investment thesis and offers predictable and compelling value creation for our shareholders.

2021年，KLA超額完成了長期資本回報目標，向股東返還超過20億美元，其中包括6.01億美元的股息和14億美元的股票回購。我們相信，強勁的資本回報記錄是KLA投資理念的關鍵組成部分，並為股東創造可預測且極具吸引力的價值。

KLA has a history of consistent free cash flow generation, high free cash flow conversion and strong free cash flow margins across all phases of the business cycle and economic conditions. During the December quarter, we repurchased $430 million of common stock and paid $160 million in dividends.

KLA 歷來在各個商業週期和經濟情勢下都保持著持續的自由現金流產生、較高的自由現金流轉換率和強勁的自由現金流利潤率。在 12 月季度，我們回購了 4.3 億美元的普通股，並支付了 1.6 億美元的股息。

As we begin the new year, our view is that the WFE market will grow in the high teens, topping $100 billion off a baseline of approximately $86 billion for 2021. WFE demand is still constrained by the industry's ability to supply. Strong industry growth momentum in 2022 across all end markets is expected to drive growth with the strongest percentage growth coming from foundry logic customers. And memory investment will be led by 3D NAND.

新年伊始，我們認為WFE市場將實現兩位數成長，在2021年約860億美元的基礎上突破1,000億美元。 WFE需求仍受產業供應能力限制。預計2022年所有終端市場強勁的產業成長動能將推動成長，其中最強勁的百分比成長來自代工邏輯客戶。記憶體投資將由3D NAND引領。

Now wrapping up with our outlook and guidance. Looking ahead, our backlog remains strong and sales funnel visibility over the near-term horizon is good. However, rising product lead times driven by increased supply chain constraints is limiting our near-term output. These issues are reducing our revenue expectation by 8% to 10% for the March quarter.

現在總結一下我們的展望和指引。展望未來，我們的訂單儲備依然強勁，短期內銷售漏斗的可預測性良好。然而，由於供應鏈限制增加，產品交付週期延長，限制了我們近期的產量。這些問題導致我們3月季度的營收預期下降了8%至10%。

Specifically, COVID-related disruptions at a number of single-source suppliers have exacerbated what has already been a difficult supply situation where these suppliers have been challenged to meet demand by running their production at max capacity. These disruptions are causing delays in parts delivery timing across multiple product platforms. In addition, numerous electronic component sourcing challenges have become more acute over the past month as these are standardized parts and in demand across multiple industries.

具體而言，許多單一來源供應商因新冠疫情而出現供應中斷，加劇了本已困難的供應狀況。這些供應商面臨著透過滿載生產來滿足需求的挑戰。這些中斷導致多個產品平台的零件交付時間延遲。此外，由於這些零件是標準化零件，且在多個行業都有需求，過去一個月來，許多電子元件採購挑戰變得更加嚴峻。

We expect that the COVID-related impact will begin to abate shortly and new capacity or supply alternatives are expected to become available as we move through the calendar year. While these issues can be fluid and difficult to predict in the short run, we expect the March quarter revenue to represent the low point for calendar 2022, and we remain exceedingly confident in the sustainability of our current demand profile for the year.

我們預計，新冠疫情帶來的影響將很快開始減弱，隨著時間推移，新的產能或供應替代方案預計將陸續出現。儘管這些問題可能瞬息萬變，短期內難以預測，但我們預計3月季度的收入將達到2022年的最低點，並且我們對今年當前需求狀況的可持續性仍然充滿信心。

Given current expectations for growth in WFE and other electronics markets, we feel confident in our ability to grow throughout the year with total company revenue growth exceeding 20% and semiconductor process control systems revenue to outperform WFE growth again. Our confidence is based on current backlog levels, competitive positioning, strong customer engagement, and steps we continue to take to add capacity to address output constraints in what continues to be a robust demand environment.

鑑於目前對WFE及其他電子市場成長的預期，我們對全年成長充滿信心，公司總營收增幅將超過20%，半導體製程控制系統營收增幅也將再次超過WFE。我們的信心源自於目前的訂單積壓水準、競爭優勢、強大的客戶參與度，以及我們持續採取措施提升產能，以因應持續強勁的需求環境下的產量限制。

Our March quarter 2022 guidance is as follows: Total revenue is expected to be in a range of $2.2 billion, plus or minus $100 million. Foundry logic is forecasted to be about 59% of Semiconductor Process Control systems revenue.

我們對2022年3月季的預期如下：預計總收入約22億美元左右，上下浮動1億美元。預計代工邏輯業務約佔半導體製程控制系統收入的59%。

Memory is expected to be approximately 41%. We forecast non-GAAP gross margin to be in a range of 61.5% to 63.5% as overall revenue levels declined modestly on a sequential basis and product mix dilutes gross margins by roughly 50 basis points versus the prior quarter. To provide some color for the calendar year, given higher revenue volume, product mix expectations across our various segments offset by expected cost pressures within our supply chain, we are modeling gross margins to be approximately 63% for the year, plus or minus 50 basis points.

內存業務預計約41%。我們預測非公認會計準則下的毛利率將在61.5%至63.5%之間，原因是整體收入水準較上季略有下降，且產品組合導致毛利率較上一季下降約50個基點。為了提供全年業績一些參考，考慮到更高的收入規模、各部門產品組合預期以及供應鏈預期成本壓力，我們預計全年毛利率約為63%，上下浮動50個基點。

Other model assumptions for the March quarter include operating expenses of approximately $495 million, interest and other expense of approximately $41 million and an effective tax rate of approximately 13.5%.

3 月季度的其他模型假設包括約 4.95 億美元的營運費用、約 4,100 萬美元的利息和其他費用以及約 13.5% 的有效稅率。

Finally, GAAP diluted EPS is expected to be $4.54, plus or minus $0.45, and non-GAAP diluted EPS of $4.80 plus or minus $0.45. The EPS guidance is based on a fully diluted share count of approximately 151 million shares. In conclusion, we have exceptionally strong and diversified end market dynamics propelling semiconductors and the essential WFE investments required to make them.

最後，預計GAAP稀釋每股收益為4.54美元，上下浮動0.45美元；非GAAP稀釋每股收益為4.80美元，上下浮動0.45美元。該每股收益指引基於約1.51億股的完全稀釋股份數量。總而言之，我們擁有異常強勁且多元化的終端市場動態，推動半導體以及製造半導體所需的關鍵WFE投資。

Furthermore, we are seeing revenue growth opportunities as more innovation occurs and technology complexity increases in specialty semiconductors, advanced packaging and other electronics markets. Finally, our services offerings continue to deliver more value to our customers in our Semiconductor Process Control business, and their evolving opportunities to further expand our value proposition in our acquired businesses. Our record backlog is supported by solid customer demand across end markets and at multiple technology nodes.

此外，隨著專業半導體、先進封裝和其他電子市場的創新不斷湧現、技術複雜性不斷提升，我們也看到了收入成長的機會。最後，我們的服務產品持續為半導體製程控制業務的客戶創造更多價值，並為他們帶來不斷發展的機遇，進一步拓展我們在收購業務中的價值主張。我們創紀錄的訂單量得益於終端市場和多個技術節點的強勁客戶需求。

2022 is setting up to be the third consecutive year of double-digit growth for WFE and the seventh consecutive year of growth for KLA. The KLA operating model fuels KLA's strategic objectives and positions us to outperform the industry in terms of growth and financial performance. These objectives fuel our growth, operational excellence and differentiation across an increasingly more diverse product and service offering.

2022年，WFE預計將連續第三年實現兩位數成長，KLA也將連續第七年實現成長。 KLA的營運模式協助KLA實現其策略目標，並使我們預期在成長和財務表現方面超越產業。這些目標將推動我們實現成長、卓越運營，並透過日益多樣化的產品和服務實現差異化。

They also underpin our sustained technology leadership, wide competitive moat and strong record of free cash flow generation and capital returns to shareholders. With that, I'll now turn the call back over to Kevin to begin the Q&A session. Kevin?

它們也鞏固了我們持續的技術領先地位、廣泛的競爭障礙以及強勁的自由現金流產生和股東資本回報記錄。好了，現在我將把節目轉回給 Kevin，開始問答環節。 Kevin？

Go ahead and queue for questions. Sorry about that.

請繼續排隊提問。抱歉。

No worries. (Operator Instructions)

不用擔心。 （操作員說明）

We'll now take our first question from John Pitzer of Credit Suisse.

現在我們來回答瑞士信貸的約翰·皮策提出的第一個問題。

Rick, as you pointed out in your prepared comments, you guys have been dealing and the industry has been dealing with a difficult supply situation all year, but this is the first quarter that you and others have seen to have a meaningful impact on the business.

里克，正如你在準備好的評論中指出的那樣，你們和整個行業全年都在應對困難的供應形勢，但這是你和其他人看到的第一個對業務產生重大影響的季度。

And I'm kind of curious as to what specifically happened in the last 90 days to make things worse. And I guess, more importantly, as you call March as the bottom, what gives you confidence that these problems won't persist even longer?

我有點好奇過去90天具體發生了什麼，導致情況惡化。而且，更重要的是，既然您稱3月為谷底，是什麼讓您有信心這些問題不會持續更久？

John, thanks for the question. Yes, we feel pretty good about how we've navigated through the pandemic. A couple of factors for KLA specific, I think, to think about. One is we were up in the December quarter. And again, huge customer demand, so working to work that off. We talked in the past about securing critical components, critical parts from key suppliers. That actually continues to be in good shape, where we had some challenges in the last few weeks.

約翰，謝謝你的提問。是的，我們對疫情期間的應對感到很滿意。我認為，對於KLA來說，有幾個因素需要考慮。首先，我們在12月季度的業績有所成長。其次，龐大的客戶需求，所以我們正在努力應對。我們之前談到從關鍵供應商那裡獲得關鍵零件。實際上，這方面的情況一直很好，只是過去幾週我們遇到了一些挑戰。

And right now, as we're actually working through them, had to do with not necessarily our critical supply but just generalized supply across the industry. I think as most companies are talking about. So we're seeing some of that, that are not unique, as Bren said in his comments, to KLA. The reason we feel more confident is even in the last few days, we've seen some pressure being released in that system, that it won't be in time for what we would have preferred to ship in this quarter, we obviously have the backlog, we could have shipped more if we'd had it.

目前，我們正在努力解決這些問題，這些問題不一定關乎我們的關鍵供應，而是關乎整個產業的普遍供應。我想大多數公司都在談論這個問題。所以我們看到了一些問題，正如Bren在他的評論中所說，這些問題並非KLA獨有。我們之所以更有信心，是因為即使在最近幾天，我們也看到該系統中出現了一些壓力，擔心它無法按時交付我們希望在本季度交付的產品。我們顯然有一些積壓訂單，如果當時有積壓訂單，我們本來可以交付更多。

But it's being resolved. So we feel pretty good about the go forward after we get through March. And I'll let Bren add some color since he's spending a good part of his time working some of these issues himself.

但問題正在解決中。所以我們對三月後的進展感到很樂觀。我請Bren補充一些細節，因為他自己也花了很多時間處理這些問題。

Hey John, how are you? So just to add to Rick's comments. I think one of the things you have to consider is most of our strategic buffer that we've built, whether we have it in inventory levels at the company, whether it's at inventory or long lead time materials that we've either procured or suppliers have procured. Over the last 15 months or so, given the strength of demand, we have worked through a fair amount of that. And that's one of the challenges we have is we are more dependent today on the predictability of timing, first of all, but also volume of quality. And so I think those are issues that we continue to work through. As Rick said, in our complex systems, we generally have a pretty transparent view of where that demand is, although everyone is struggling to meet the demand environment that we're facing today.

嗨，約翰，你好嗎？補充一下里克的評論。我認為你需要考慮的一件事是我們建立的大部分策略緩衝，無論是公司庫存水平，還是庫存，還是我們採購或供應商採購的長交付週期材料。在過去15個月左右的時間裡，鑑於需求強勁，我們已經解決了相當多的問題。我們面臨的挑戰之一是，我們今天更加依賴時間的可預測性，首先是數量和品質。所以我認為這些問題是我們正在繼續努力解決的。正如里克所說，在我們複雜的系統中，我們通常對需求的所在位置有相當透明的了解，儘管每個人都在努力滿足我們今天面臨的需求環境。

But it's in our higher volume but single sourced type products where we've seen some of these pressures. We did not anticipate a COVID variant and what that would do to those factories in terms of people having to leave either because of contact or exposure. So you had facilities that are already running 100% max that all of a sudden had to deal with this disruption in a lot of cases, a pretty meaningful disruption in the first part of the month.

但在我們產量較大但來源單一的產品中，我們感受到了一些壓力。我們沒有預料到新冠變異株會對這些工廠造成影響，導致人們因為接觸或暴露而不得不離開。所以，很多工廠已經滿載運轉，突然不得不應付這種中斷，在很多情況下，這種中斷在月初就相當嚴重。

We think that, that's abating. And we're getting a sense that that's improving. And this COVID environment, we'll have to figure out and navigate our way through. We don't know what the future holds. But at least in terms of the near-term environment, we feel pretty good about that.

我們認為，這種情況正在減弱。而且我們感覺情況正在好轉。在新冠疫情環境下，我們必須找到出路，找到應對之策。我們不知道未來會怎樣。但至少就短期環境而言，我們對此感覺相當樂觀。

And then trying to source and find all the electrical components, which are deeper in our build of material and within our supply chain. There's less visibility, but there's also alternative, either alternative supplies, qualifying new parts in some cases, leveraging third parties, which we've been doing, and that's even becoming more challenged in terms of distributors and others that might be out there that have those parts.

然後嘗試採購並找到所有電氣元件，這些元件在我們的材料建造和供應鏈中都處於更深層的位置。雖然可見度較低，但也有替代方案，例如替代供應商，在某些情況下是合格的新零件，或利用第三方，我們一直在這樣做。對於分銷商和其他可能擁有這些零件的人來說，這甚至變得更具挑戰性。

So we're managing through this. We're escalating where appropriate. And as we look at it and walk through what we expect to see moving forward, we think the March quarter sets up as the bottom, and we expect -- given the guidance we gave that we would see growth through the year and expect the company to be somewhere in excess of 20%, as we said in the prepared remarks. So there's always some questions or unpredictability here in terms of just where things are, but that's the best of how we see it today.

所以我們正在努力應對這種情況。我們會在適當的時候逐步升級。當我們審視並展望未來發展時，我們認為3月份季度將是底部，根據我們給予的指引，我們預計全年將實現成長，公司成長率將超過20%，正如我們在準備好的發言稿中所說的那樣。所以，就目前的情況而言，總是會存在一些疑問或不可預測性，但這是我們目前所能看到的最好的情況。

And then, Bren, just as my follow-up. You gave some very specific guidance for OpEx even beyond the March quarter, growing sequentially throughout the year, but still within the model of 40% to 50% incremental gross -- operating margin, sorry. I'm just kind of curious, I have to imagine that this year, the supply constraints are causing some excess costs that might bleed down over time as supply gets better.

然後，Bren，作為我的後續問題。您給了一些非常具體的營運支出指引，甚至在3月季度之後也是如此，全年環比增長，但仍在40%到50%的毛利潤率增量模型之內，抱歉。我只是有點好奇，我必須想像，今年供應受限會導致一些超額成本，這些成本可能會隨著供應改善而逐漸減少。

And there's a bigger mismatch, I'm assuming between revenue collection and investment this year. So as you start to recapture some of this revenue as supply gets better, should we assume that incremental op margins closer to the higher end of that 40% to 50%? Or how should we think about that as revenue growth accelerates beyond March?

我認為，今年的收入和投資之間存在著更大的錯配。那麼，隨著供應改善，你們開始重新獲得部分收入時，我們是否應該假設增量營業利潤率接近40%到50%的上限？或者，隨著3月後營收成長加速，我們該如何看待這一點？

Yes. No, you're thinking about it right. As we see revenue growth, it should accelerate to the higher end of the range. The commentary was really about how we look and size the company on an annual basis or over a longer-term horizon. And if you look at '19 to our '22 planning, we will have had incremental operating margins given the growth we've seen in excess of 50%, about 52%. So my point was that we would expect revenue to grow. We're also expecting OpEx to grow. But at the end of the day, as we're sizing 2022, we expect to be in our target range of 40 to 50.

是的。不，您說得對。隨著收入成長，收入應該會加速成長到預期區間的高端。剛才的評論實際上是關於我們如何從年度角度或長期角度來看待和評估公司規模。如果您回顧2019年至2022年的規劃，考慮到我們已經看到的超過50%（約52%）的成長，我們的營業利潤率應該會有所提升。所以我的觀點是，我們預期收入會成長。我們也預期營運支出也會成長。但最終，當我們展望2022年時，我們預期營業利潤率將維持在40%到50%的目標區間內。

We'll take our next question from Harlan Sur of JPMorgan.

我們將回答摩根大通的 Harlan Sur 提出的下一個問題。

Great execution by the operations team. In calendar '21, your Process Control Systems business outgrew WFE by about 8 percentage points. So strong performance there. So as we look at your WFE outlook for this year, right, up 16% to $100 billion, taking into account rising cost of control intensity, your portfolio of new products, how should we think about your Process Control Systems growth profile relative to WFE this year? It's clearly going to outperform, but should we expect a similar type of outperformance like you saw in '21 or maybe even better, just given the customer mix and the complexity challenges? And is it going to again be led by wafer inspection?

營運團隊的執行力非常出色。在2021年，您的製程控制系統業務成長速度比晶圓偵測業務（WFE）高出約8個百分點。表現非常強勁。那麼，讓我們來看看您今年對晶圓檢測業務的展望，預計將成長16%，達到1000億美元。考慮到控制強度成本的上升以及新產品組合，我們應該如何看待今年製程控制系統業務相對於WFE的成長情況？它顯然會跑贏大盤，但考慮到客戶結構和複雜性挑戰，我們是否應該期待它像2021年那樣表現出色，甚至更好？晶圓檢測業務會再次主導嗎？

Harlan. Good question. Yes, '21, we feel really good about how we performed in '21. I think we talked about several times, just the strength, especially of optical wafer inspection was extraordinary in the year. And also, when we look to our order book, we got tremendous interest in those products that we're seeing great opportunities in '22 as well.

哈蘭，好問題。是的，我們對21年的表現感到非常滿意。我想我們已經討論過很多次了，尤其是在光學晶圓檢測方面，我們的實力在這一年非常出色。而且，從訂單情況來看，我們對這些產品非常感興趣，因此我們在2022年也看到了巨大的機會。

I think that's a favorable mix for the year for '22 and -- based on the success we've had with some of our new products and the way that they're being received by customers, we anticipate that we'll be in a good position to build on our market leadership position as we go forward.

我認為這對 22 年來說是一個有利的組合，並且基於我們一些新產品所取得的成功以及客戶的接受度，我們預計我們將在未來處於有利地位，鞏固我們的市場領導地位。

So we are anticipating continued growth in share, albeit at the kind of rate that we outlined a few years ago. So I think the combination of those factors plus the continuation of the drive in design roles are all good indicators and good drivers for KLA to outperform, which is what we're forecasting. We never really know at this point in the year, how it's actually going to -- the details of what it's going to look, but we think Process Control is in a great position for '22, and we're in a great position within Process Control. And Bren can add some color to that.

因此，我們預計份額將繼續成長，儘管成長速度與幾年前我們預測的一致。所以我認為，這些因素加上對設計崗位持續成長的驅動力，都是 KLA 取得優異表現的良好指標和驅動力，而這正是我們預測的。目前我們還無法真正預知今年的實際情況——它的具體情況如何，但我們認為過程控制在 2022 年處於有利地位，我們在過程控制領域也處於有利地位。 Bren 可以對此進行一些補充。

Yes, Harlan. I think that what we'll see in terms of mix, I would expect foundry logic to grow faster this year than it grew -- or faster than the growth rate in WFE. And as a result of that, that will be a favorable mix. So to Rick's point, I think that, that will be a driver for us. From a share point of view, we feel pretty good about where we are. Certainly, wafer inspection, as you mentioned, has been the biggest driver. It's been the fastest-growing business in the company. We have a very strong position there. I've said many times, I think it might be one of the fastest-growing markets in all of WFE.

是的，Harlan。我認為，就產品組合而言，我預計今年晶圓代工邏輯業務的成長速度會比WFE業務更快——或者說，會比WFE業務的成長率更快。因此，這將是一個有利的產品組合。所以，正如Rick所說，我認為這將成為我們的一個驅動力。從市場佔有率的角度來看，我們對目前的狀況感到相當滿意。當然，正如您所提到的，晶圓檢測一直是最大的驅動力。它是公司成長最快的業務。我們在該領域佔據著非常強勢的地位。我已經說過很多次了，我認為它可能是所有WFE業務中成長最快的市場之一。

I would expect to continue to see momentum in that overall market. So as we said in the prepared remarks that we were about -- we thought we were around 46% for semiconductor systems in 2021. It gets the market of 40% or 41%. And then as we look at high teens type growth rates in WFE this year, I would expect we'll have a similar improvement over the market or similar outperform, somewhere in that mid-single-digit range based on how we're looking at it today.

我預計整體市場將繼續保持成長勢頭。正如我們在準備好的發言稿中所說，我們預計2021年半導體系統的市佔率約為46%。而市場實際的市佔率為40%或41%。然後，當我們觀察今年WFE的高雙位數成長率時，我預計我們的業績將比市場有類似的改善，或者說跑贏大盤，根據我們目前的情況來看，成長率將在中等個位數左右。

And I appreciate the insights there. And then on the gross margin front, I understand the supply challenges and other logistics-related dynamics that are impacting your shipments here. But relative to your peers, I mean, your gross margins are holding up extremely well, right? I mean you guys are only guiding for roughly a 50 basis point decline sequentially in gross margins here in the March quarter. And it actually looks like that's more mix and volume related, right? And in the midst of all of these potential cost dynamics, you're still guiding full year gross margins to 63%.

我很欣賞您的見解。然後，關於毛利率，我理解供應挑戰和其他與物流相關的動態因素正在影響貴公司的出貨量。但相對於同行，貴公司的毛利率維持得非常好，對嗎？我的意思是，你們預計3月份季度的毛利率將較上季下降僅約50個基點。實際上，這看起來更多是與產品組合和銷量有關，對嗎？儘管存在所有這些潛在的成本動態，但貴公司仍然預計全年毛利率將達到63%。

So help us understand the better sustainability of gross margins in this challenging period. I mean, are you guys just passing along exercising some pricing power and just passing along some of these cost to your customers?

所以，請幫助我們理解在這個充滿挑戰的時期，毛利率如何更好地維持永續性。我的意思是，你們是否只是在行使一些定價權，並將部分成本轉嫁給客戶？

That's a great question, Harlan, and I'll start and maybe Rick will want to add a few comments here. But our pricing model is really based on pricing to value. It's priced on the value we believe that our tools add to our customers. And so that's ultimately how we price the products. It isn't a cost-based model. It's more of a value-based. You're right, as you look at the March quarter, what's declining is Semiconductor Process Control revenue quarter-to-quarter, we're actually expecting some growth in our EPC business and every quarter service grows.

哈蘭，這個問題問得好，我先開始，瑞克可能也想補充幾句。我們的定價模式實際上是基於價值定價。它是基於我們認為我們的工具能為客戶創造的價值來定價。所以，這最終決定了我們的產品定價方式。它不是基於成本的定價模式，而是基於價值的定價模式。你說得對，從三月季度來看，半導體製程控制收入環比下降，我們實際上預計EPC業務會有所成長，而且每季的服務收入都會成長。

So it is a bit of a mix effect and a volume effect on the March quarter. Going forward, we are seeing pressure on costs. We're not implying that we aren't and I've been pretty open with the fact that I think there's 100 basis point headwind related to cost increases as we all know, everything seems to be costing more.

所以，這對3月季度來說，有點混合效應和銷售效應。展望未來，我們將面臨成本壓力。我們並非暗示沒有，而且我一直非常坦誠地承認，我認為成本上漲將帶來100個基點的阻力，眾所周知，所有產品的成本似乎都在上漲。

Labor is costing more and certainly the ramp in investments our customers -- or suppliers are having to make is driving incremental cost into the model but that's factored in. So absent that, I think given the mix expectations we would have moving into '22 with the growth rate of semi PC consistent with what your last question, then we would see margins improve. But we are feeling a little bit of pressure.

勞動力成本正在上升，當然，我們的客戶或供應商不得不增加投資，這也會推高模型成本，但這已被計入。因此，如果不考慮這些因素，我認為，考慮到我們對2022年的產品組合預期，如果半導體PC的成長率與您上一個問題一致，那麼我們的利潤率就會提高。但我們也感受到了一些壓力。

So I think we hold 63%, plus or minus in any given quarter, you'll see a little bit of variability. But at the end of the day, I also think it's just -- it's a reflection of the value that we're adding, I think it's also a reflection of the differentiation that we have across the portfolio in the marketplace.

所以我認為我們的持股比例是63%，在任何一個季度上下浮動，你都會看到一些波動。但歸根結底，我認為這只是——它反映了我們正在增加的價值，也反映了我們投資組合在市場上的差異化。

Yes. Just one other thing to add to Bren, I mean I think it's really important that we continue to understand the value we're creating for our customers, and we share in that value in our pricing. I think that's the way to think about it. For them, they're very, very motivated to get these products in as soon as they can because the payback is extremely quick.

是的。 Bren，我還有一點想補充。我認為，真正重要的是，我們要持續理解我們為客戶創造的價值，並將這種價值體現在定價中。我認為我們應該這樣思考。對於客戶來說，他們非常非常渴望盡快推出這些產品，因為回報非常快。

What you would probably see in a more normalized -- if you didn't have an environment that was a supply constrained -- with the increase in volume, you'd actually see the cost dynamics go the other way. So I think what Bren talked about the little bit of headwind that we get is because of some of the pricing increases, but it's not much in our overall business.

在更正常的環境下，如果沒有供應受限的情況，你可能會看到，隨著產量的增加，成本動態實際上會朝著相反的方向發展。所以我認為，布倫提到的我們面臨的一些阻力是由於部分價格上漲造成的，但這對我們的整體業務影響並不大。

But in a historical context, if you went up as much as our revenues have, we would see volume discounting happening with our suppliers, which would bring down some of the costs, and that's not really happening in this environment. But our starting point is really good, and our new products are incredibly well received by our customers. So not only do we like the margin profile, but our customers really want to get the new products. So we're in a pretty good position as it stands right now.

但從歷史角度來看，如果收入像我們一樣大幅成長，我們會看到供應商給予批量折扣，從而降低部分成本，但在目前的環境下，這種情況並不常見。但我們的起點非常好，而且我們的新產品也深受顧客歡迎。因此，不僅我們喜歡目前的利潤率，而且我們的客戶也非常渴望獲得新產品。因此，就目前情況而言，我們處於相當有利的地位。

We'll take our next question from C.J. Muse of Evercore.

我們將回答 Evercore 的 C.J. Muse 提出的下一個問題。

I guess another gross margin question, if we really drilled down just the process control, you grew gross margins there, 64% in 2020 to 65% in 2021. And I'm cognizant of the fact that there's clearly some challenges near term. But as you think about the mix that you're seeing and the value add that you're bringing, where do you think process control gross margins can go in a more normalized environment once the supply chain normalizes?

我想再問一個關於毛利率的問題。如果我們深入研究過程控制，你們的毛利率確實有所成長，從2020年的64%成長到了2021年的65%。我意識到短期內肯定存在一些挑戰。但考慮到你們目前的產品組合以及你們帶來的增值，一旦供應鏈恢復正常，在一個更加規範化的環境中，您認為製程控制的毛利率會上升到什麼水準？

Yes, C.J., it's a great question. You're right. We're in the mid-65% range, if you look at the process control segment overall. So as we move into certainly '22, I would expect that to be roughly flat given what we just said, maybe a little bit better, but generally in that range and just given the things we just talked about. A lot of it depends overall on -- you've got the service mix, which service gross margins have improved over time as that business scales, but it is dilutive.

是的，C.J.，這個問題問得很好。你說得對。如果你看一下整個製程管制部門，我們的毛利率在65%左右。所以，當我們進入2022年時，考慮到我們剛才所說的情況，我預計這個數字會大致持平，甚至可能略有改善，但總體上還是在這個範圍內，而且考慮到我們剛才討論的情況。這在很大程度上取決於整體情況——服務組合，隨著業務規模的擴大，哪些服務的毛利率會隨著時間的推移而提高，但這會產生稀釋作用。

So in the long run, if service is growing faster than systems, that does put a little bit of pressure on margins. So I think we're pretty comfortable with the levels that they're at. I can see them ticking up.

所以從長遠來看，如果服務業務的成長速度快於系統業務，這確實會對利潤率造成一些壓力。所以我認為我們對目前的水平相當滿意。我預計它們會繼續增長。

We always talk about 60% to 65% type incrementals on our semi process control business. So I would expect to see something consistent with that. But if you're approaching 65% or maybe a little bit higher at the top end of that, you start to hit the ceiling in terms of how high you can go. So I think we're probably in that mid-60s range, maybe creeping up a little bit from there. But I don't see it improving much more than that.

我們總是談論半過程控制業務的60%到65%的增量。所以我預計會看到類似的成長。但如果接近65%或更高，那麼成長潛力就會開始受到限制。所以我認為我們可能處於65%左右的區間，或許會在此基礎上稍微上升。但我預計不會有太大的提升。

That's helpful. As my follow-up, I guess, can you comment on whether you expect to be constrained in the June quarter? And as we think about kind of second half total revenues versus first half on a calendar basis, should we be thinking kind of low- to mid-double-digit growth half-on-half?

這很有幫助。我想，作為我的後續問題，您能否評論一下，您是否預計6月份季度的業績會受到限制？當我們考慮下半年與上半年相比的總收入時，我們是否應該認為下半年的成長率應該在低至兩位數的中段？

Yes, I think that's the way to think about it. Certainly, the second half will be stronger than the first half. And look, I think we're all constrained right now in terms of the ability to get parts. What we've provided is our expected probability of all the various issues we're managing in terms of an overall view.

是的，我認為應該這麼想。下半年一定會比上半年表現更好。而且，我認為我們目前在獲取零件的能力方面都受到了限制。我們提供的只是從整體角度來看，我們正在處理的各種問題的預期機率。

But given that March will be lower, I would expect sequential growth as we move through the year. And the second half overall for the company, yes, low- to mid-double digits is a reasonable way to think about it.

但考慮到3月的業績會比較低，我預期全年業績會較上季成長。對於公司下半年的整體業績來說，實現低至兩位數的成長是合理的。

We'll take our next question from Vivek Arya of Bank of America Securities.

我們將回答美國銀行證券公司的 Vivek Arya 提出的下一個問題。

I actually wanted to ask the last question in a slightly different way. So as you go into June, so I think you're suggesting about a $200 million impact in the March quarter. Are you able to recognize that $200 million in June? Or is that spread into the back half of the year?

我其實想換個方式問最後一個問題。現在進入6月份，我認為您指的是3月份季度的影響約為2億美元。您能在6月確認這2億美元嗎？還是會分攤到下半年？

Yes. Vivek, it will show up in the June quarter. So these are shipments that slipped out and then are in the June quarter. But when you have suppliers that are running at max capacity in a lot of cases, and they have a disruption, I think the making up of that lost time will take some time through the year, right? I don't think that they'll be able to make it all of it once. So there's a little bit of a cascading that happens whenever you have a disruption in a facility that's already running full out, I mean, equipment is running 24/7, people are working up to legal limits in terms of overtime.

是的。 Vivek，它會在六月季度顯現出來。所以這些是一些延誤的出貨量，然後出現在六月季度。但是，當供應商在許多情況下都滿載運轉時，如果發生中斷，我認為彌補這些損失的時間需要一年的時間，對吧？我認為他們不可能一次完成所有工作。所以，每當一個已經滿載運轉的工廠發生中斷時，就會發生一些連鎖反應，我的意思是，設備全天候運轉，工人加班到法定限度。

So trying to squeeze more capacity in the short run is a little bit harder. But over time, I would expect that we'll see that creep out. We also expect capacity to improve or have alternatives to materialize as we move through the year. So it's a combination of those effects. But yes, I would expect it to move into the June quarter.

因此，短期內試圖增加產能會比較困難。但隨著時間的推移，我預計這種情況會逐漸好轉。我們也預計，隨著今年的推進，產能會有所提升，或者會有其他替代方案出現。所以，這是多種因素共同作用的結果。不過，是的，我預計這種情況會持續到第二季​​。

So just one -- just a little more color to think about. What we saw with Omicron is more people being impacted and losing work days, fortunately not severely impacted, but enough that they had to not be at the workforce. And as Bren said, these factories were ramped up. So it's hard to make that up, but it's also -- they're already coming back. So we have a lot of confidence in the supply chain, returning to more supportive levels for our business going forward.

所以，再說一點吧——再多說一點。我們看到Omicron的情況是，更多人受到影響，損失了工作時間，幸運的是，影響並不嚴重，但也足以讓他們不得不停工。正如Bren所說，這些工廠已經開足馬力生產。所以很難彌補這一點，但事實是——他們已經恢復了生產。因此，我們對供應鏈充滿信心，相信供應鏈將恢復到對我們未來業務更有支撐力的水平。

All right. And for my follow-up, I realize it's super, super early, but I was just hoping if you could give us a flavor of customer discussions about 2023? WFE in the past has kind of grown for 2 to 3 years, and there is a period of absorption. This time, we have already had -- or this will be the third year of growth. Do you think it's possible to have a fourth year of growth? And what would be the high-level kind of puts and takes, just so that investors get a sense for is this the peak year for WFE? Or are there still prospects for additional growth next year?

好的。至於我的後續問題，我知道現在還為時過早，但我只是希望您能給我們介紹一下關於2023年的客戶討論情況。 WFE過去通常成長兩到三年，之後會經歷一段吸收期。而這一次，我們已經經歷了──或者說，這將是第三年的成長。您認為有可能迎來第四年的成長嗎？您能大致了解一下收益和利弊嗎？這樣投資人就能了解今年是否是WFE的巔峰？或者明年還有進一步成長的前景？

Vivek, great question. I think, ironically, perhaps the current slowdown in our ability as an equipment industry to provide will stretch this out into '23 anyway. And so you see that plus a number of high-profile projects, which have been discussed recently by our customers don't really order equipment in '22 or maybe they place POs, but we certainly don't see deliveries.

Vivek，好問題。諷刺的是，我認為，目前我們設備產業供貨能力的放緩，或許會將這種情況延續到2023年。所以，你會看到，再加上我們客戶最近討論的一些備受矚目的項目，它們實際上並沒有在2022年訂購設備，或者也許他們下了採購訂單，但我們肯定看不到交付。

So if you think about some of the big new greenfield projects that have been announced, those are '23 projects, not '22. So I think the combination of those that are related to both support from the regionalization efforts driven by things like the CHIPS Act in the U.S. should that come to pass. But even the other projects, which aren't dependent on that, are really much more about '23 than they are about '22. So as we look at it now, we do have pretty good visibility out through the end of the year and even into the first part of next year for the demand to continue to be very supportive of our business.

所以，想想那些已經宣布的大型新綠地項目，它們都是「23年」項目，而不是「22年」。所以我認為，這些項目與美國《晶片和資訊安全法案》（CHIPS Act）等推動的區域化努力的支持有關，如果這些努力得以實施的話。但即使是其他不依賴這些努力的項目，實際上也更與「23年」而非「22年」相關。因此，就目前情況來看，我們確實有相當好的預見性，到今年年底甚至明年上半年，需求將繼續有力地支持我們的業務。

Yes. Vivek, the only other thing I would add to that is that we have very high levels of backlog. In a lot of cases, we're booking slots for customers into 2023 now. And so as a result of that, we feel pretty confident in the sustainability of what we're seeing. I made some comments earlier about the second half and as we model in terms of how we're planning the company and how we're planning capacity, we expect to see that -- those levels of business sustain as we move forward. So it's a long way out and things can change.

是的。 Vivek，我唯一想補充的是，我們的積壓訂單量非常高。很多情況下，我們現在為客戶預訂的艙等已經排到2023年了。因此，我們對目前情況的可持續性非常有信心。我之前對下半年的情況做了一些評論，隨著我們規劃公司和運力，我們預計這些業務水準將在未來持續下去。所以，這還有很長的路要走，情況可能會改變。

But certainly, we don't see anything that shows any slowing down anytime in the horizon. And certainly, customers are asking for more and faster.

但可以肯定的是，我們看不到任何放緩的跡象。而且，客戶確實要求更多、更快。

We'll take our next question from Timothy Arcuri of UBS.

我們將回答瑞銀的提摩西‧阿庫裡提出的下一個問題。

I had 2, Bren, one kind of on the same tack as the last question. So it seems like the WFE in the first half of the year were sort of entering March a bit lower than what -- most of us would have thought just because of some of these constraints. But the back half is going to be a lot bigger. If you just take your number, you're going to do like 18 -- I mean, maybe even 19 in terms of process control shipments -- system shipments in the back half of the year. And if you basically take your WFE share, that's like a $110 billion annualized WFE.

布倫，我有兩個問題，其中一個和上一個問題思路一致。所以，看起來今年上半年的WFE（工業自動化設備出貨量）在3月時比我們大多數人預想的要低一些，這只是因為一些限制因素。但下半年的出貨量會大很多。如果只看數字，下半年的過程控制系統出貨量可能會達到18%——我的意思是，甚至可能是19%。如果只看WFE的份額，那相當於1100億美元的年度化WFE。

So my question is, when you sort of think about that number and you go back and you try to determine what the demand really supports in terms of WFE, sort of looking at the projects and looking at the technology transitions and what not. How do you handicap sort of -- where you cry uncle on sort of where the WFE run rate becomes too high? And do you agree with the [185] or somewhere in that range of system number for the back half of the year?

所以我的問題是，當你思考這個數字，並回過頭去嘗試確定需求在WFE方面真正能支撐什麼時，你會關注專案、技術轉型等等。你如何設定障礙－當WFE運作率過高時，你會選擇認輸嗎？你是否同意下半年系統數量在[185]左右或在這個範圍內？

Tim, on the last part of your question, given the guidance we gave around second half, you're probably not that far off. It's probably in that 18 range, plus or minus, more or less. So we'll have to see how it plays out. Look, we spent a lot of time looking at the various leading indicators of what we're seeing from customers. And of course, we look at our customers, the discussions we have with them, there is the profitability levels. We look at these end markets and some of the challenges that exist there.

提姆，關於你問題的最後一部分，考慮到我們下半年給出的指引，你的預測可能並不太準確。大概在18%左右，上下浮動。所以我們得看看情況如何。你看，我們花了很多時間研究客戶的各種領先指標。當然，我們關注客戶，關注與他們的討論，關注獲利水準。我們關注這些終端市場以及那裡存在的一些挑戰。

So as we go through it, you look at our customers are spending more than they ever have. They're more profitable than they've ever been. So we feel pretty good about where they're at and where the demand is. So we're going to -- we'll continue to watch it. But right now, at this point, we -- our customers are continuing to ask for systems. As I said earlier, I think WFE is constrained by supply. And over the long run, we believe that WFE, given rising capital intensity will grow faster than semiconductor revenue in terms of a long run trend.

所以，當我們回顧這段經歷時，你會發現我們的客戶支出比以往任何時候都多。他們的利潤也比以往任何時候都高。因此，我們對他們的現狀和需求狀況感到相當滿意。我們會繼續關注。但就目前而言，我們的客戶仍在持續對系統提出需求。正如我之前所說，我認為WFE受到供應的限制。從長遠來看，鑑於資本密集度的提高，我們相信WFE的成長速度將超過半導體收入。

So I think that's how we're modeling the company. Certainly, it's how we're planning when we think about supply and investments we need to make. But that's how we're thinking about it right now.

所以我認為這就是我們塑造公司形象的方式。當然，這也是我們在考慮供應和投資時所做的規劃。但目前我們就是這樣考慮的。

And then just maybe a bigger picture, Rick, I'm sort of curious what your view is. I get a lot of questions around as you go to sort of scaling that's a little more verticalized versus using litho to scale, whether you're talking about (inaudible) or 3D DRAM, things like that. It isn't exactly what happened in NAND, but litho does become a little bit maybe less of a driver for actually to scale going forward. Can you just talk about how you think about how that affects you either positively or negatively sort of in terms of your ability to keep on gaining WFE share? And maybe what you're attach to litho is sort of how you think about that bigger picture?

然後，也許從更宏觀的角度來說，Rick，我有點好奇你的看法。我收到了很多關於你關於垂直化微縮（比使用光刻技術微縮更垂直化）的問題，無論你指的是（聽不清楚）還是 3D DRAM 之類的。這與 NAND 領域的情況不同，但光刻技術在未來微縮的驅動力可能會減弱一些。你能不能談談，就你繼續獲得 WFE 份額的能力而言，這對你有何影響，是積極的還是消極的？也許你對光刻技術的關注是你對宏觀視角的看法？

Yes. Thanks, Tim. Good question. I think that it's interesting if you use the example of NAND as a -- there, you actually went backwards in lithography. And yet the process control intensity, it went down a little bit, but we actually thought it would go down more because what happened was 2 things. And if we'd had solutions, it probably wouldn't have gone down at all because there were other integration problems that we were unable to solve at that time. But even there, it went backwards and there was not a huge change in process control intensity, albeit at lower levels.

是的，謝謝，提姆。好問題。我覺得以NAND為例會很有趣──光刻技術其實倒退了。然而，工藝控制強度下降了一點，但我們實際上認為它會下降更多，因為發生了兩件事。如果我們有解決方案，它可能根本不會下降，因為當時還有其他整合問題我們無法解決。但即使如此，它還是倒退了，製程控制強度並沒有發生巨大的變化，儘管變化幅度較小。

What we're seeing now already in conversations with customers as we look at new device types. The process control challenges are going to be enormous. And many of them, yes, defect is a big part of it, but you have EUV, which is driving additional use cases. You have the registration overlay challenges, which has created quite a significant market, and we also see the need for more and more inspection layers using different wavelengths. So that Gen 4 is being extended. I think we mentioned last quarter, Gen 4 actually outperformed Gen 5 in terms of revenue in 2021.

在與客戶探討新設備類型時，我們已經看到了一些變化。製程控制挑戰將會非常巨大。其中許多挑戰，沒錯，缺陷是其中很大一部分，但EUV技術正在推動更多應用場景。此外，還有套準疊加挑戰，這創造了一個相當大的市場。我們也看到了對使用不同波長的更多檢測層的需求。因此，第四代工藝正在擴展。我記得我們上個季度提到過，2021年第四代工藝的收入實際上超過了第五代工藝。

And we actually see that continuing because of the usefulness of that product and that wavelength. So we actually think the real question is, are there going to be integration challenges that are going to drive our customers. When there's multiple players competing at the leading edge, that's always a good thing for KLA. I think we went through a period where there was really one main driver, and they had one real end device driving that logic, that's no longer the case.

事實上，由於該產品的實用性和波長的波長，我們看到這種情況仍在持續。所以我們認為真正的問題是，是否存在能夠驅動我們客戶發展的整合挑戰。當有多家公司在前沿領域競爭時，這對KLA來說總是一件好事。我認為我們經歷過一個時期，當時只有一個主要驅動力，而且他們只有一個真正的終端設備來驅動這種邏輯，但現在情況已經不同了。

So we feel pretty good about the architectures that we're seeing. We have process control teams that are working with our customers. And as far as we can see out through several years, we think we're well positioned with plenty of opportunity and we have a lot of solutions we're investing in, as Bren said, we're investing at a significant level in R&D to be positioned to support those going forward.

我們對目前看到的架構非常滿意。我們擁有與客戶合作的流程控制團隊。就未來幾年的展望而言，我們認為我們擁有充足的機遇，並且我們正在投資許多解決方案。正如Bren所說，我們正在大力投資研發，以支持未來的發展。

So we don't see really a relaxation in process control intensity as we go forward. Will it continue to rise? We're not anticipating that it goes up a lot. And so that's not in our models, that would be upside to our model if that happened, but that's not what we're working off of.

因此，我們預期未來製程控制強度不會真正放鬆。它會繼續上升嗎？我們預計不會大幅上升。所以這不在我們的模型中，如果真的發生這種情況，對我們的模型來說可能是有利的，但這不是我們目前的工作重點。

Tim, 2 things. First, when we move from planar to vertical and NAND, if you use NAND as a proxy, we saw a couple of point improvement overall in process control intensity. And it came really in our metrology businesses because if you think you're starting to build the structures vertically, it creates a whole new set of metrology challenges. So we saw an inflection there for metrology and then you also have defect mechanisms related to high-aspect layers -- high-aspect ratio structures and so on. So that is -- if it's a proxy, we feel pretty good about opportunities there as some of the defect mechanisms, and metrology challenges change, but process control intensity overall is a positive.

Tim，有兩點。首先，當我們從平面轉向垂直和NAND時，如果以NAND作為替代，我們可以看到製程控制強度整體上有幾個點的提升。這在我們的計量業務中尤其明顯，因為如果你開始垂直建造結構，就會帶來一系列全新的計量挑戰。因此，我們看到了計量領域的一個轉折點，此外還存在與高縱橫比層相關的缺陷機制——高縱橫比結構等等。所以，如果以NAND作為替代，我們對那裡的機會感到相當樂觀，因為一些缺陷機制和計量挑戰正在發生變化，但總體而言，工藝控制強度是積極的。

Our 2023 plan in terms of process control or KLA share of WFE was to see process control intensity improve, KLA share of WFE to grow about 75 to 100 basis points from 2019. And we feel like we're right on that trajectory as we go forward here. So as Rick said, we don't expect it to grow a lot, but we do expect to see it continuing to grow, and that should create opportunities for us to, for the most part, consistently outgrow the market here over the next few years.

我們2023年在製程控製或KLA在WFE份額方面的計畫是，提高製程控制強度，使KLA在WFE份額比2019年增長約75至100個基點。我們感覺自己正朝著這個方向前進。正如Rick所說，我們預計它不會大幅成長，但我們確實預期它會持續成長，這將為我們創造機會，讓我們在未來幾年內，在很大程度上持續超越市場。

We'll move next to Patrick Ho of Stifel.

接下來我們來談談 Stifel 的 Patrick Ho。

Rick, maybe just following up on that question by Tim in terms of process control intensity in terms of device architecture. As we look at gate all around, and I know you've talked about it from a big picture perspective of some of the opportunities there. But given the materials intensity, how do you see, I guess, more semiconductor engineering materials type of trends benefiting process control intensity? And especially, I'm just thinking gate all around, the gates now being surrounded by a lot of materials. How do you look at it from both an inspection and probably from an overlay metrology perspective? Do you see one or the other "benefiting" from these changes on the materials front?

Rick，我想補充Tim關於裝置架構製程控制強度的問題。讓我們來看看「全閘極」（gate around），我知道您已經從宏觀角度討論了其中的一些機會。但考慮到材料強度，您如何看待更多半導體工程材料類型的趨勢有利於製程控制強度？尤其是“全柵極”，柵極現在被大量材料包圍。您從檢測和疊層計量的角度如何看待這個問題？您是否認為其中一方會從材料方面的這些變化中「受益」？

Yes, Patrick, good question. I think that, again, we've been in conversations with customers about these advanced architectures for some time and the challenges that they face.

是的，派崔克，這個問題問得好。我想，我們已經與客戶討論這些先進的架構以及他們面臨的挑戰已經有一段時間了。

Fortunately, we often have more time than we originally thought to get our solutions ready because these often take longer to get to market than were originally anticipated. So we're actually in pretty good shape in terms of providing solutions for that. Specifically to gate all around, remember, for inspection, there are really a couple of things that we have to -- problems that we have to solve.

幸運的是，我們通常有比原先預想的更多時間來準備解決方案，因為這些解決方案上市的時間通常比原先預期的要長。所以，我們在提供解決方案方面實際上做得相當不錯。具體來說，為了全面檢查，請記住，我們確實需要解決一些問題。

The most significant one often lost on people is it's a contrast question. It's not as much as a resolution as contrast and gate all around with different materials creates a different contrast challenge, which is why the wavelength matters a lot, which is why we're extending Gen 4, and we're seeing good modeling results from that. The other thing that happens, of course, is the registration, every generation, I think, may be lost on people are the additional challenges in registration and overlay every device technology and the increase in sampling is just dramatic in that business and in films in general.

人們常常忽略的最重要的一點是對比問題。對比問題並非分辨率問題，而是各種不同材料的閘極會帶來不同的對比挑戰，這就是為什麼波長如此重要，這也是我們擴展第四代的原因，並且我們看到了良好的建模結果。當然，另一件事是配準問題，我認為每一代都可能被人們忽略，配準和疊加技術在每種設備技術方面都帶來了額外的挑戰，而採樣率的提高對這個行業以及整個電影行業來說都是巨大的。

Again, more challenges associated with that. We have a good modeling effort that goes on very, very strong in the company so we can model and understand what those devices are going to look like and what they're going to need in terms of capability.

同樣，這也帶來了更多挑戰。我們公司內部的建模工作非常出色，因此我們可以建模並了解這些設備的外觀以及它們所需的功能。

So we're very well positioned to handle that. I think that you're going to see increases in both inspection needs, but also in metrology slightly in different ways. And in metrology, you're already sampling at so many levels. It's more about increasing the sampling at those levels. In other words, more steps or more measurement points per die and per wafer. In inspection, it ends up you add a number of inspection steps in the process as opposed to the area inspected, which is usually already predetermined and that probably won't change.

因此，我們完全有能力應對這項挑戰。我認為，不僅檢測需求會成長，計量需求也會略有不同。計量領域已經在許多層面進行採樣。更重要的是在這些層面上增加採樣數量。換句話說，每個晶片和每個晶圓需要更多步驟或更多測量點。而檢測領域最終會在流程中增加許多檢測步驟，而不是檢測區域，因為檢測區域通常是預先決定的，而且可能不會改變。

So I think that they'll both grow but for different reasons in that. And again, our customers -- our relationship with our customers is such that we've been working on these problems for a while because now they know they need the support of inspection and metrology early in the development phase if they have a chance of ramping these new technologies. So we feel pretty good about our insight into those.

所以我認為它們都會成長，但原因不同。再說一次，我們的客戶——我們與客戶的關係如此密切，以至於我們一直在努力解決這些問題，因為現在他們知道，如果他們有機會推廣這些新技術，就需要在開發早期就獲得檢測和計量方面的支持。因此，我們對這些方面的洞察力感到非常滿意。

Great. That's helpful. And as a quick follow-up. The current environment obviously is seeing very high utilization across fabs for both leading edge and trailing edge. Given the supply chain issues, and I know not all parts and components are the same for both new systems and "your spare parts business, your installed base business." But how are you balancing some of the procurement issues that you're dealing with today in terms of where do I take this component or parts? Should it go into the spare parts bucket? Or should it go into a new system? How are you balancing that today?

太好了，這很有幫助。接下來我想問一下。目前的情況顯然是，無論是前緣或後沿，各晶圓廠的利用率都非常高。考慮到供應鏈問題，我知道新系統和「備件業務，也就是已安裝的基礎業務」所需的零件和元件並非完全相同。但是，您如何平衡目前面臨的一些採購問題？例如，我該把這些零件放到哪裡？應該放到零件桶裡嗎？還是應該放到新系統中？您目前是如何平衡這些問題的？

Yes, Patrick, it's a great question and it's something that we spend a lot of time on internally, particularly as Brian Lorig runs our service business points out to me all the time that don't forget about spares. So it is absolutely a balancing act. Fortunately, we have pretty good idea of when things will fail that -- around certain components, and we can plan for that. But we -- in terms of stocking levels. But we're very -- we have had situations where we will pull parts off of systems, if we have to, to support the field, we've made commitment to customers, those customers value these systems, and we've got to keep them up and running.

是的，派崔克，這個問題問得很好，我們內部也花了很多時間處理這個問題，尤其是負責我們服務業務的布萊恩·洛里格一直跟我強調，不要忘記備件。所以這絕對是一個平衡的過程。幸運的是，我們對某些部件何時會出現故障非常了解，而且我們可以為此做好計劃。但就庫存水準而言，我們非常——我們確實遇到過一些情況，如果需要，我們會從系統中調出零件來支援現場作業。我們已經向客戶做出了承諾，這些客戶非常重視這些系統，我們必須確保它們正常運作。

So in a lot of those cases, we're going to generally prioritize service if we can't figure out a way to work around it, which we've for the most part been able to do. But it's a constant balancing act, and it's something that we watch very closely.

所以在很多情況下，如果我們找不到解決辦法，我們通常會優先提供服務，而我們大多數情況下都能做到。但這需要持續的平衡，我們會密切注意。

We have time for one last question, and we'll take Joe Moore of Morgan Stanley.

我們還有時間回答最後一個問題，我們將請摩根士丹利的喬摩爾 (Joe Moore) 來回答。

I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about the supply constraints in terms of how much planning were you able to do around it? Did you get surprised by these component issues? And are you generally just kind of meeting commitments to your customers but the lead times are getting pushed out? Or was there kind of a decommitment because of disruptions in your own supply chain?

能否再多談談供應限制的問題，例如你們做了多少規劃？這些零件問題是否讓你感到驚訝？你們通常是否都能履行對客戶的承諾，但交貨週期卻被拖延了？還是因為你們自身的供應鏈中斷，導致你們放棄了承諾？

Yes. Joe, that's a great question. So I'll say a couple of things here. First, yes, there were some surprises, right? As we were moving through December and into the early part of January, the COVID impact was a surprise in terms of the impact on some of these suppliers. So we also had some issues that materialized, as I said in the prepared remarks around, I'll call them, more lower-value commodity parts that we also procure in a lot of cases, where those are as we have supplier suppliers that are trying to acquire those parts to then send them to us to our direct suppliers before it gets to us. So it's a little bit harder to have visibility down at those levels.

是的。喬，這個問題問得很好。所以我想在這裡說幾點。首先，是的，確實有一些意外，對吧？隨著我們進入12月，進入1月初，新冠疫情對一些供應商的影響令人意外。因此，我們也遇到了一些實際問題，正如我在準備好的發言中所說，我稱之為更多低價值商品零件，在很多情況下，我們也會採購這些零件，因為我們的供應商試圖採購這些零件，然後在它們到達我們手中之前將它們發送給我們的直接供應商。因此，在這些層面上，要獲得透明度會有些困難。

Now with enough time, you can typically manage around some of those issues, either by finding alternatives, qualifying alternatives. It does have an impact on on-time delivery, to your point, and so the reason we were able to quantify the impact of 8% to 10% on the results in March was really what we thought we were looking at as we ended the December quarter and where we ended up today. So we had a pretty good visibility to the impact and so we're able to quantify it. On-time delivery is what's suffering though. But we're managing around it to the extent we can.

現在有了足夠的時間，你通常可以透過尋找替代方案或合格的替代方案來規避其中一些問題。正如你所說，這確實會影響準時交付，所以我們之所以能夠量化3月份業績8%到10%的影響，實際上是因為我們在12月季度結束時以及今天的業績表現時所考慮的因素。因此，我們對影響有相當清晰的了解，因此能夠量化它。然而，準時交貨確實存在問題。但我們正在盡力解決這個問題。

And I think customers, while there's tremendous pressure in the system, there's a reality check of the challenges that I think I can speak for everybody that we're all dealing with here.

我認為，客戶們，雖然系統面臨巨大的壓力，但我們必須面對現實挑戰，我認為我可以代表所有人談談我們在這裡所面臨的挑戰。

Great. Thank you, Joe and thank you, everybody, for joining us. We know it's a busy week of earnings, a busy day of earnings. We really appreciate everyone's time and attention. I'm sure we'll be catching up with many of you throughout the quarter. With that I'll pass the call back over to Leo to end the call.

太好了！謝謝喬，也謝謝大家的參與。我們知道本週的財報發布非常忙碌，今天也是忙碌的一天。非常感謝大家的時間和關注。我相信我們整個季度都會和大家交流。好了，現在我要把電話轉給利奧，結束今天的通話。

This concludes the KLA Corporation December Quarter 2021 Earnings Call and Webcast. Please disconnect your line at this time. Have a wonderful day.

KLA Corporation 2021 年 12 月季度收益電話會議及網路直播到此結束。請您暫時斷開連線。祝您擁有美好的一天。