AEye Inc (LIDR) 2021 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is [Kirby], and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to AEye's third-quarter 2021 earnings conference call and webcast. (Operator Instructions) I will turn the call over to Steve Lambright, Chief Marketing Officer. Please go ahead.

早安.我是 Kirby，今天將擔任本次會議的接線生。現在，我謹代表 AEye 向大家歡迎參加 2021 年第三季財報電話會議和網路直播。 （接線生提示）接下來，我將把電話轉交給行銷長 Steve Lambright。請開始吧。

Thanks, Kirby, and welcome, everyone, to AEye's third-quarter 2021 earnings call. With me today are Blair LaCorte, our Chief Executive Officer; and Bob Brown, our Chief Financial Officer. Earlier today, we announced our financial results for the third quarter 2021. A copy of the press release can be found on our website at investors.aeye.ai.

謝謝 Kirby，也歡迎各位參加 AEye 2021 年第三季財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有我們的執行長 Blair LaCorte 和財務長 Bob Brown。今天早些時候，我們公佈了 2021 年第三季的財務表現。您可以在我們網站 investors.aeye.ai 上找到新聞稿。

Before we start, I'd like to remind participants that during this call, management may make forward-looking statements including, without limitation, statements regarding our future performance, growth strategy, and financial outlook. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, the industry, and other conditions. These forward-looking statements are subject to inherent risks, uncertainty, and changes in circumstances that are difficult or impossible to predict.

在會議開始之前，我想提醒各位與會者，在本次電話會議中，管理層可能會發表一些前瞻性聲明，包括但不限於有關我們未來業績、成長策略和財務展望的聲明。這些前瞻性聲明是基於我們目前對自身業務、產業及其他情況的預期和假設。這些前瞻性聲明受到固有風險、不確定性和難以預測的情況變化的影響。

You can find more information about these risks, uncertainties, and other factors in our reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the registration statement on Form S-4 that includes a definitive proxy statement that AEye is formerly known as CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III filed with the SEC. Additional information will be set forth in our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ending September 30, 2021.

您可以在我們不時向美國證券交易委員會提交的報告中找到有關這些風險、不確定性及其他因素的更多信息，包括向美國證券交易委員會提交的S-4表格註冊聲明（其中包含一份最終委託書，聲明AEye的前身是CF Finance Acquisition Corp. III）。更多資訊將在我們截至2021年9月30日的季度報告（10-Q表格）中列出。

Our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by these forward-looking statements. We caution you, therefore, against placing undue reliance on any of these forward-looking statements. All information discussed today will be as of November 11, 2021, and we do not intend and undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments, or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

我們的實際業績可能與這些前瞻性陳述所預期的情況有重大差異。因此，我們提醒您不要過度依賴任何此類前瞻性陳述。今天討論的所有資訊均截至2021年11月11日，除法律另有規定外，我們不打算也不承擔任何更新任何前瞻性陳述的義務，無論是因為出現新資訊、未來發展或其他原因。

In addition, today's discussion will include references to certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP measures are presented for supplemental informational purposes only and should not be considered a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. A reconciliation of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures is available in our press release, and you should refer to our reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in our earnings release.

此外，今天的討論將涉及一些非公認會計準則（非GAAP）財務指標。這些非GAAP指標僅供補充資訊之用，不應被視為取代依照公認會計準則（GAAP）編製的財務資訊。我們的新聞稿中提供了這些指標與最直接可比較的GAAP指標的調節表，您還應參閱我們盈利報告中的非GAAP財務指標與最直接可比較的GAAP指標的調節表。

So let's start by quickly revisiting the day that brought us here.

那麼，讓我們先快速回顧一下把我們帶到這裡的那一天。

(video playing)

（影片播放）

Hello, everyone. My name is Blair LaCorte, and I'm the CEO of AEye. I'm joined by my colleague, Bob Brown, our CFO and Treasurer. I want to thank you for joining our first earnings call as a public company. We understand that as an investor, you invest both with your time and money. We realize both are limited and appreciate you prioritizing AEye.

大家好。我是AEye的執行長Blair LaCorte。我的同事，財務長兼財務主管Bob Brown也和我一起參加了電話會議。感謝各位參加我們作為上市公司的首次財報電話會議。我們深知，身為投資者，您投入的不僅是時間和金錢。我們也明白時間和金錢都是有限的，感謝您對AEye的關注。

We are grateful to have completed our de-SPAC, as this was an important milestone and will help us accelerate adoption of AEye's high-performance adaptive LiDAR system and fulfill our mission to make vehicles safer, more efficient and to enable the next generation of autonomous mobility.

我們很高興完成了 de-SPAC，因為這是一個重要的里程碑，將有助於我們加速採用 AEye 的高性能自適應雷射雷達系統，並實現我們讓車輛更安全、更高效，並實現下一代自動駕駛的使命。

Today and on each quarterly earnings call going forward, we intend to follow a standard framework. First, we will provide you with an overview of key themes influencing the LiDAR market. Following that, we will provide an update on the business including product, customer, and partner highlights. And finally, Bob will outline progress on strategic milestones, financial performance, and/or outlook when appropriate.

今天以及今後每次季度財報電話會議，我們都將遵循一套標準流程。首先，我們將概述影響光達市場的關鍵主題。隨後，我們將介紹公司業務的最新進展，包括產品、客戶和合作夥伴的亮點。最後，Bob 將在適當的時候概述策略里程碑的進展、財務表現和/或展望。

In conclusion, we will turn the floor over to you for your questions.

最後，我們將把提問權交給各位。

With that said, let's get started.

那麼，讓我們開始吧。

AEye's next-generation system is designed to leverage AI and edge processing to move the complexity from the hardware to the software, giving industrial customers and automotive OEMs the ability to add new and compelling features. This approach also enables a unique business model. With one platform addressing all markets, accelerating hardware cost reduction and the use of partnerships to manufacture and sell in a more flexible manner.

AEye的下一代系統旨在利用人工智慧和邊緣處理技術，將複雜性從硬體轉移到軟體，使工業客戶和汽車OEM製造商能夠添加全新且引人注目的功能。這種方法也催生了一種獨特的商業模式：透過一個平台即可覆蓋所有市場，加速降低硬體成本，並透過合作夥伴關係以更靈活的方式進行生產和銷售。

AEye also has a great track record of innovation and leadership over the last eight years. Most recently, in 2020, we released our third generation of products, the 4Sight series. We launched the 4Sight A for ADAS and the 4Sight M for industrial applications to a very positive response.

AEye在過去八年中也取得了卓越的創新和領導地位。最近，在2020年，我們發表了第三代產品－4Sight系列。我們推出了面向ADAS的4Sight A和工業應用的4Sight M，並獲得了非常積極的市場反響。

2021 has also been an exciting year. We completed our merger with CFAC and became a public company. We hit a milestone of filing more than 100 patents supporting our unique technology. And we continue to secure customer and third-party validation of our industry-leading performance, with 1,000-meter range in weather, scanning speeds of more than 20,000 hertz, and super high resolution of 1,600 points per degree squared, four times that of any of our competition.

2021年也是令人振奮的一年。我們完成了與CFAC的合併，並成功上市。我們取得了一項里程碑式的成就，提交了超過100項專利，這些專利為我們獨特的技術提供了有力支持。此外，我們持續獲得客戶和第三方對我們行業領先性能的驗證，其產品在各種天氣條件下的探測範圍可達1000米，掃描速度超過20000赫茲，分辨率高達每平方度1600點，是任何競爭對手的四倍。

As this is our first call, we thought it was important to take a few minutes to articulate the technology vision AEye was founded on in 2013, which was to build an AI-driven sensing platform that would perform better than the human visual cortex, not to simply build a stand-alone passive LiDAR sensor. We use lessons from biomimicry as well as lessons from the military's use of targeting and surveillance systems over the past 30 years.

由於這是我們的首次通話，我們認為有必要花幾分鐘時間闡述AEye在2013年創立時的技術願景：建構一個性能超越人類視覺皮層的AI驅動型感測平台，而不僅僅是開發一個獨立的被動式雷射雷達感測器。我們借鏡了仿生學以及過去30年軍方在目標定位和監視系統的應用經驗。

We developed three key technical principles to guide our base technology architecture, partnering strategy, and commercial model. First, we needed to rethink LiDAR hardware. We understood from our experience with radar and cameras that to really drive LiDAR adoption, it needed to be an intelligent, upgradeable, and ultimately, have a very steep cost reduction curve.

我們制定了三項關鍵技術原則，以指導我們的基礎技術架構、合作策略和商業模式。首先，我們需要重新思考光達硬體。我們從雷達和攝影機的經驗中了解到，要真正推動光達的普及，它必須具備智慧性、可升級性，並且最終能夠實現極快的成本下降曲線。

We started with a transformational patented bistatic design, which is at the core of our adaptive capabilities. This allows us to parallel process information, increasing speed and accuracy similar to a human eye's use of the visual cortex.

我們以一項變革性的專利雙站式設計為起點，這是我們自適應能力的核心。這項設計使我們能夠並行處理訊息，從而提高速度和準確性，類似於人眼利用視覺皮層的方式。

We also knew that the ability to scale hardware production while reducing costs would require that our components be modular and be produced through standard high-volume processes by world-class automotive-grade Tier 2s.

我們也知道，要在擴大硬體生產規模的同時降低成本，就需要我們的組件採用模組化設計，並由世界一流的汽車級二級供應商透過標準的大量生產流程進行生產。

Second, we understood you need to have an intelligent software at the sensor level, which is a departure from the common approach of transferring raw detects to a separate perception software engine. LiDAR needs to enable functionality that cameras and radar could not, such as tracking fast-moving environments with small objects and lateral entries. This requires intelligent software on the sensor that substantially increases situational awareness and the probability of detection while reducing false positives without impacting SWaP-C.

其次，我們了解到您需要在感測器層面配備智慧軟體，這與通常將原始探測資料傳輸到獨立感知軟體引擎的方法有所不同。光達需要實現攝影機和雷達無法實現的功能，例如追蹤快速移動的環境中的小物體和側向入侵。這就要求感測器上配備智慧軟體，在不影響尺寸、重量、功耗和成本 (SWaP-C) 的前提下，顯著提高態勢感知能力和偵測機率，同時降低誤報率。

Third, with these new hardware and software capabilities, we had to rethink the role of perception software within the autonomous vehicle stack. We understood that sending a perception engine more data wasn't the answer. Perception systems need the right information.

第三，隨著硬體和軟體功能的不斷升級，我們必須重新思考感知軟體在自動駕駛系統堆疊中的作用。我們意識到，僅僅向感知引擎發送更多數據並不能解決問題。感知系統需要的是正確的資訊。

Traditional passive LiDAR systems always oversample and undersample with every scene, especially in high speeds or variable weather. By delivering better quality information, we enable any perception engine to be faster and more accurate, whether it's AEye's perception software or an in-house or third-party system.

傳統的被動式雷射雷達系統在處理每個場景時都會出現過採樣和欠採樣的情況，尤其是在高速行駛或天氣多變的情況下。透過提供更高品質的信息，我們能夠使任何感知引擎運行得更快、更準確，無論是AEye的感知軟體，還是內部或第三方系統。

Our conclusion was that the world is dynamic. The way your vehicle senses should be as well.

我們的結論是，世界是動態的，車輛的感知方式也應該如此。

So why are our customers so excited? This adaptive sensing platform enables them to use our software to optimize a sensor for any placement in a vehicle from the grill, headlight, windshield, or roof and to optimize the scan pattern for any use case or market requirement, from super long-range requirements of trucking and rail to more general scanning requirements for construction applications to very highly specialized scanning requirements for aerospace or intelligent traffic systems.

那麼，我們的客戶為何如此興奮呢？這個自適應感測平台使他們能夠使用我們的軟體，針對車輛上的任何位置（從格柵、大燈、擋風玻璃到車頂）優化感測器，並針對任何使用場景或市場需求優化掃描模式，從卡車和鐵路的超遠距離需求，到建築應用的更通用的掃描需求，再到航空航天或智慧掃描系統的高度專業化的超遠距離需求。

Our partnership model, combined with our embedded SDK, uniquely enables Tier 1s and systems integrators to assist end users in this process if needed. We also intend to offer customers the ability to upgrade their software for different application needs. The intelligent sensor software platform can be broken down into four simple levels, each designed to meet the needs of specific use cases or applications.

我們的合作模式結合嵌入式SDK，使一級供應商和系統整合商能夠在必要時協助最終用戶完成此流程。我們也計劃為客戶提供軟體升級功能，以滿足不同的應用需求。智慧感測器軟體平台可分為四個簡單層級，每個層級都設計用於滿足特定用例或應用的需求。

The first level we call design. It enables users to create a single deterministic scan pattern to deliver optimal information for any specific use case to address use cases such as highway autopilot or pedestrian detection in the city.

第一層我們稱之為設計。它使用戶能夠創建單一的確定性掃描模式，從而為任何特定用例提供最佳信息，以解決諸如高速公路自動駕駛或城市行人檢測等用例。

The second level, triggered, has a set of scan patterns, each one addressing a specific use case. For example, a user can create a different scan pattern for highway, urban, and suburban driving. In addition, users can create scan patterns for those same driving environments but optimized for bad weather. The design and triggered levels are ideal for ADAS applications.

第二層級（觸發層級）包含一系列掃描模式，每種模式都針對特定的使用場景。例如，使用者可以為高速公路、城市和郊區駕駛創建不同的掃描模式。此外，使用者還可以為相同的駕駛環境建立針對惡劣天氣最佳化的掃描模式。這種設計和觸發層級非常適合高級駕駛輔助系統 (ADAS) 應用。

There are, however, two additional levels designed for industrial and mobility applications that are intended to be unlocked on demand.

但是，還有兩個額外的關卡是為工業和行動應用而設計的，可以根據需要解鎖。

The first of these is responsive. With responsive, the entire platform is situationally aware, adjusting in real time how it scans the scene. In this level, system feedback loops and other sensors such as camera and radar inform the LiDAR.

首先是響應式設計。響應式設計使整個平台能夠感知周圍環境，並即時調整場景掃描方式。在這個層面上，系統回授迴路和其他感測器（例如攝影機和雷達）會為光達提供資訊。

The highest level is predictive. Predictive understands the motion of everything it sees, which enables the system to deliver more information with less data, focusing its energy on the most important objects in the scene while paying attention to everything else in its periphery.

最高等級是預測級。預測級能夠理解它所看到的一切事物的運動，這使得系統能夠用更少的數據提供更多信息，將精力集中在場景中最重要的物體上，同時關注其周邊的一切事物。

Now before we talk about specific customer highlights, let's step back and take one final look at how we uniquely approach the market in comparison to our peers. The combination of our unique hardware and software creates a high-performance LiDAR system that allows us to address multiple markets with the same platform. This creates a unique advantage against competitors who are unable to reconfigure the capabilities of the product to address the specific needs of each market.

在詳細介紹客戶案例之前，讓我們先回顧一下我們與同行相比，在市場競爭中獨樹一幟的優勢。我們獨特的軟硬體結合，打造出高性能的光達系統，使我們能夠利用同一平台服務多個市場。這為我們創造了獨特的競爭優勢，因為競爭對手無法根據不同市場的特定需求調整產品功能。

Another advantage of our model is that we can approach each market with an appropriate selling model. We can sell direct as we do in several industrial markets or through a licensing model with Tier 1s in the ADAS market. This gives us the flexibility as the markets mature to drive adoption of LiDAR.

我們模式的另一個優點在於，我們可以根據每個市場的具體情況選擇合適的銷售模式。我們可以像在多個工業市場一樣直接銷售，也可以在ADAS市場透過與一級供應商合作的授權授權模式進行銷售。隨著市場日趨成熟，這種模式使我們能夠靈活地推動雷射雷達技術的應用。

Now let's highlight a few of our partners and customers. As you may be aware, Continental, one of the world's largest automotive suppliers, has selected AEye's LiDAR as their high-performance ADAS sensor to be implemented into its installed base of customers. This validation by Continental is critically important, because Conti has been one of the leading global suppliers of ADAS solutions over the past 25 years.

現在，讓我們重點介紹一下我們的一些合作夥伴和客戶。您可能已經知道，全球最大的汽車供應商之一——大陸集團（Continental）已選擇AEye的雷射雷達作為其高性能ADAS感測器，並將其應用於其客戶的現有系統中。大陸集團的這項認可至關重要，因為在過去的25年中，大陸集團一直是全球領先的ADAS解決方案供應商之一。

After an exhaustive two-year review of LiDAR technologies, Continental selected AEye as its partner. Together, we announced that Conti will be shipping a long-range LiDAR product based on AEye's technology to its automotive and trucking customers with volume production starting in 2024. I would like to mention this relationship goes well beyond licensing and manufacturing.

經過兩年對光達技術的全面評估，大陸集團最終選擇AEye作為其合作夥伴。我們共同宣布，大陸集團將基於AEye的技術，向其汽車和卡車客戶交付一款遠端雷射雷達產品，並計劃於2024年開始量產。我想強調的是，雙方的合作關係遠不止於技術授權和產品製造。

We jointly and recently exhibited with Continental at the IAA Conference in Munich and traveled thousands of miles on a roadshow across six countries, where we reinforced key relationships with major OEMs with current or impending RFQs. For more on our work with Continental, let's hear from Gunnar Juergens, Continental's Vice President of LiDAR. Gunnar?

我們最近與大陸集團聯合參加了慕尼黑國際汽車展（IAA），並在六個國家進行了數千英里的巡迴推介，鞏固了與主要原始設備製造商（OEM）的關鍵合作關係，這些OEM目前或即將發布詢價單。想了解更多關於我們與大陸集團合作的信息，請聽聽大陸集團光達副總裁Gunnar Juergens的介紹。 Gunnar？

(video starts)

（影片開始）

Thanks, Blair. I appreciate the opportunity to be here today. For those who aren't familiar with Continental, Continental is a 150-year-old company that today is one of the largest automotive technology companies in the world, with currently more than 192,000 employees and an annual revenue of over EUR37 billion in 2020.

謝謝，布萊爾。我很榮幸今天能來到這裡。對於那些不太了解大陸集團的人來說，大陸集團是一家擁有150年歷史的公司，如今已成為全球最大的汽車技術公司之一，目前擁有超過19.2萬名員工，2020年的年收入超過370億歐元。

We have a wide range of products in automotive, starting with mission-critical parts like tires and brakes up to high-technology ones like the high-performance computers or ADAS sensors. Continental has been one of the world's leading suppliers of ADAS technology over the last decades, recently shipping our 100-millionth radar unit. In addition to radar, our 5,000 strong ADAS engineering team is working on the full ADAS system stack including cameras, LiDARs, automated driving control units, ADAS software, as well as data management.

我們在汽車領域擁有廣泛的產品線，從輪胎和煞車等關鍵零件到高性能電腦或ADAS感測器等高科技產品，應有盡有。在過去的幾十年裡，大陸集團一直是全球領先的ADAS技術供應商之一，最近我們交付了第1億個雷達單元。除了雷達之外，我們擁有5000名成員的ADAS工程團隊，致力於開發完整的ADAS系統，包括攝影機、雷射雷達、自動駕駛控制單元、ADAS軟體以及資料管理系統。

What many people may not be aware is that we also have delivered more than 20 million LiDAR systems to more than 50 different vehicle models. We have a large ADAS market footprint with over 25 OEMs and 50 brands in our installed customer base. So with a history of more than 20 years in delivering LiDAR solutions to the automotive market, Continental is already uniquely positioned in the industry. But the next high priority for OEMs is to offer integrated ADAS systems that include a high-performance, long-range LiDAR to address specific requirements for applications such as highway autopilot and hub-to-hub autonomous trucking.

許多人可能不了解，我們已向超過50種不同的車型交付了超過2000萬套雷射雷達系統。我們在ADAS市場擁有龐大的客戶群，包括超過25家OEM廠商和50個汽車品牌。憑藉著20多年來為汽車市場提供光達解決方案的經驗，大陸集團在業界已佔據獨特的地位。但對於OEM製造商而言，下一個重點是提供整合式ADAS系統，其中包括高性能、遠距離雷射雷達，以滿足高速公路自動駕駛和樞紐到樞紐自動駕駛卡車等應用的特定需求。

So we searched for the ideal technology partner to jointly develop such a new high-performance, long-range LiDAR. We found AEye, and we learned about our compatibility with regards to technology and market vision. We share common subsystems, suppliers, and design elements. And although the applications for our existing short-range flash LiDAR and the new long-range manned space LiDAR with AEye are different, they are complementary offerings that help us deliver our ultimate vision of a full-stack autonomous solution.

因此，我們一直在尋找理想的技術合作夥伴，共同開發這款新型高性能遠端雷射雷達。我們找到了AEye，並了解到我們在技術和市場願景方面高度契合。我們共享子系統、供應商和設計元素。儘管我們現有的短程閃光雷射雷達和與AEye合作開發的新型遠程載人航太雷射雷達的應用領域有所不同，但它們是互補的產品，有助於我們實現最終願景——打造全端式自主解決方案。

Equally critical has been AEye's willingness to license its platform so that we can utilize our manufacturing processes and purchasing power to create a truly differentiated Continental product. We believe we are unique in our ability to bring an automotive-grade, high-performance, long-range LiDAR product to market at a competitive price in a large-scale production.

同樣至關重要的是，AEye 願意授權其平台，使我們能夠利用自身的製造流程和採購優勢，打造真正具有差異化的大陸集團產品。我們相信，我們擁有獨一無二的能力，能夠以具有競爭力的價格，大規模生產出汽車級、高性能、遠程光達產品。

Our teams are deeply integrated from my engineering processes through -- to our joint marketing materials and customer engagements. We have daily alignment meetings. We have quarterly executive off-site, shared IPT structures and also, resident engineers. We have successfully implemented all the mechanics necessary to bring a Continental product to market based on AEye's reference design.

從我的工程流程到聯合行銷材料和客戶互動，我們的團隊深度融合。我們每天都會召開協調會議，每季舉行高階主管非正式會議，共享整合產品團隊（IPT）架構，並配備駐場工程師。我們已成功實施所有必要機制，將基於AEye參考設計的Continental產品推向市場。

And today, we are on schedule for delivering our product for SOP 2024, and we are producing B-samples of our production lines. Currently, we are jointly participating in numerous RFQ processes with major OEMs around the globe. The strong relationship between Continental and AEye accelerates and derisks development of our high-performance, long-range LiDAR product.

如今，我們的產品正按計劃推進，預計在2024年按期交付，並且我們正在生產生產線的B樣。目前，我們正與全球多家主要OEM廠商共同參與眾多詢問流程。大陸集團與AEye之間的緊密合作關係，加速並降低了我們高性能、遠程雷射雷達產品的研發風險。

This product also extends and completes Continental's integrated ADAS system. As a stand-alone high-performance, long-range Continental LiDAR or as a part of our ADAS system, we are creating a compelling market position and a unique competitive advantage that strengthens our OEM relationships. OEMs value AEye's unique, high-performance technology in combination with Continental's proven ability to industrialize, manufacture, and deliver automotive-grade products in high volumes.

該產品進一步擴展並完善了大陸集團的整合式ADAS系統。無論是作為獨立的高性能遠程雷射雷達，還是作為ADAS系統的一部分，我們都致力於打造強大的市場地位和獨特的競爭優勢，從而加強與OEM廠商的合作關係。 OEM廠商高度認可AEye獨特的高性能技術，以及大陸集團在汽車級產品的大規模工業化生產和交付方面久經考驗的能力。

(video ends)

（影片結束）

Thanks, Gunnar. Let's switch gears -- excuse the pun -- and talk about the industrial markets.

謝謝，岡納。咱們換個話題——請原諒我用了這個雙關語——來聊聊工業市場吧。

Earlier this year, we announced the development partnership with global self-driving technology company, TuSimple. TuSimple is working with numerous truck OEMs on hub-to-hub and ADAS applications as well as Level 4 self-driving trucks, targeting production in 2024. TuSimple chose AEye because of our system's extreme long-range performance, impressive weather capabilities, and the ability to address the most challenging autonomous trucking situations.

今年早些時候，我們宣布與全球自動駕駛技術公司圖森未來（TuSimple）建立開發合作夥伴關係。圖森未來正與眾多卡車製造商合作開發樞紐到樞紐互聯和高級駕駛輔助系統（ADAS）應用，以及L4級自動駕駛卡車，目標是在2024年實現量產。圖森未來選擇AEye的原因在於我們系統擁有超遠距離性能、卓越的天氣適應能力，以及應對最具挑戰性的自動駕駛卡車場景的能力。

It's widely believed that the trucking industry will be one of the early adopters of autonomous vehicles as a solution for driver shortages, fleet logistics, and safety concerns.

一般認為，卡車運輸業將成為最早採用自動駕駛汽車的行業之一，以此解決司機短缺、車隊物流和安全問題。

We are also working with horizontal technology providers. Our partnership with Nvidia is a great example of our efforts here. Nvidia's drive system is being used by many OEMs, mobility providers, and industrial companies as the foundation for their full-stack autonomous solutions. In July, AEye and Nvidia announced that AEye will bring intelligent sensing to the DRIVE platform. With this integration, autonomous vehicle developers will have access to next-generation sensing capabilities as they build and deploy state-of-the-art autonomous applications with adaptive LiDAR.

我們也與橫向技術供應商合作。與英偉達的合作就是一個很好的例子。英偉達的驅動系統已被眾多原始設備製造商 (OEM)、出行服務供應商和工業企業用作其全端式自動駕駛解決方案的基礎。今年7月，AEye和英偉達宣布，AEye將為DRIVE平台帶來智慧感測功能。透過此次集成，自動駕駛汽車開發人員在建構和部署配備自適應光達的尖端自動駕駛應用時，將能夠使用新一代感測功能。

In 2021, we've also kicked off engagements with leaders in other industrial markets to develop solutions that address their specific needs. This includes Komatsu in construction and mining equipment and Hitachi Rail to name a few. I would like to specifically highlight that in the third quarter, we launched AEye's 4Sight M into the intelligent transportation system market at the ITS World Congress in Hamburg. And the ITS market working with the right partners is critical.

2021年，我們也開始與其他工業市場的領導者合作，開發符合其特定需求的解決方案。這其中包括建築和採礦設備領域的Komatsu公司以及日立鐵路公司等等。我想特別強調的是，在第三季度，我們在漢堡舉行的智慧交通系統世界大會上，正式將AEye的4Sight M系統推向了智慧交通系統市場。在智慧交通系統市場，與合適的合作夥伴攜手至關重要。

In addition to our previously announced relationships with Econolite and Mitsubishi Electric, we announced a new and exciting partnership with Seoul Robotics, a leading 3D perception company using ITS applications and Intetra, a pan-European ITS solution provider specializing in automated tolling solutions.

除了我們先前宣布與 Econolite 和三菱電機建立的合作關係外，我們還宣布與 Seoul Robotics（一家領先的 3D 感知公司，使用 ITS 應用）和 Intetra（一家泛歐 ITS 解決方案提供商，專門從事自動收費解決方案）建立新的、令人興奮的合作夥伴關係。

Now let's look at how our capital-light model works with manufacturing our products and leveraging our global value chain to drive innovation. As we heard from Gunnar, we have transitioned manufacturing of our ADAS product to Continental. They have begun producing automotive-grade B-samples of their HRL 131 LiDAR system.

現在讓我們來看看我們的輕資產模式如何應用於產品製造，以及如何利用我們的全球價值鏈來推動創新。正如Gunnar所說，我們已將ADAS產品的生產轉移給了大陸集團。他們已經開始生產HRL 131雷射雷達系統的車規級B級樣品。

For the industrial markets, we have also begun to move our manufacturing from our advanced development center in Dublin to our contract manufacturing partner, Sanmina. In addition, we are expanding our advanced development center at our Dublin, California, headquarters and recently opened our partner innovation center. By bringing together the resources and the talent that exist within our partner ecosystem, we expect to facilitate communication and collaboration and to accelerate innovation.

在工業市場方面，我們也已開始將部分生產環節從都柏林的先進研發中心轉移至我們的代工夥伴Sanmina。此外，我們正在擴建位於加州都柏林總部的先進研發中心，並於近期啟用了合作夥伴創新中心。透過整合合作夥伴生態系統內的資源與人才，我們期望能促進溝通與協作，並加速創新進程。

Finally, together with our partner, Sanmina, we are building an industry-leading test facility, which will be available to our team and partners. This is expected to be operational in Q1 of 2022. We will continue to formalize these testing programs and share our results, as we believe this transparency will help our customers better understand and appreciate the unique capabilities of our technology and our products.

最後，我們正與合作夥伴Sanmina共同建造一座業界領先的測試設施，供我們的團隊和合作夥伴使用。該設施預計將於2022年第一季投入營運。我們將繼續完善這些測試項目並分享測試結果，因為我們相信這種透明度將有助於客戶更好地了解和欣賞我們技術和產品的獨特優勢。

With that, I'll now turn the call over to Bob Brown, our CFO, to review our key business and financial milestones and third-quarter financial results. Bob?

接下來，我將把電話交給我們的財務長鮑伯布朗，讓他回顧我們重要的業務和財務里程碑以及第三季的財務表現。鮑伯？

Thanks, Blair. I'll begin with a summary of our progress in executing on our strategic milestones during the quarter. Then I'll discuss our third-quarter results.

謝謝，布萊爾。我先總結一下本季我們在執行各項策略里程碑的進展。然後我會討論我們第三季的業績。

I'll start with our primary financial milestone, which was to complete our de-SPAC transaction in the third quarter. We successfully completed that in August by listing on NASDAQ as LIDR and raising over $200 million net of fees. We also eliminated over $50 million of outstanding debt at the closing of the transaction.

首先，我想談談我們最重要的財務里程碑，就是在第三季完成去SPAC交易。我們已於8月成功完成交易，股票代號為LIDR，在納斯達克上市，扣除相關費用後募集資金超過2億美元。此外，我們在交易完成時也消除了超過5000萬美元的未償債務。

With respect to product, we had a goal this year to clearly and measurably demonstrate the performance of AEye's LiDAR. We succeeded in establishing LiDAR performance standards for range, speed, and resolution in third-party tests, and we also validated our superior weather performance.

在產品方面，我們今年的目標是清楚、可量化地展示AEye雷射雷達的性能。我們成功地通過第三方測試，建立了雷射雷達在探測距離、速度和分辨率方面的性能標準，並且驗證了我們卓越的天氣性能。

Manufacturing is another key milestone for us, and we made considerable progress there in the third quarter. Initial automotive B-samples from the Continental line are in bring up, and we are on schedule for automotive series production in 2024. We are also on track to begin production this quarter of our 4Sight M LiDAR sensor at Sanmina, our contract manufacturing partner. The 4Sight M will be used in our industrial and mobility applications.

製造是我們的另一個重要里程碑，我們在第三季度取得了顯著進展。來自大陸集團生產線的首批汽車B級樣品正在調試中，我們正按計劃推進2024年的汽車系列化生產。此外，我們計劃在本季開始在代工合作夥伴Sanmina處生產4Sight M雷射雷達感測器。 4Sight M將應用於我們的工業和移動出行領域。

In the area of customers and partners, demonstrating commercial traction with leading players in the market is another key milestone for us in 2021. We're pleased to have advanced key relationships in the third quarter, including with Continental in ADAS, TuSimple in trucking, Nvidia in mobility, Komatsu in construction, Hitachi in rail, and Mitsubishi, Econolite, Intetra, and Seoul Robotics, all in support of our recent ITS launch.

在客戶和合作夥伴方面，與市場領導者建立商業合作關係是我們 2021 年的另一個重要里程碑。我們很高興在第三季度深化了與關鍵企業的合作關係，包括與 Continental（ADAS）、TuSimple（卡車）、Nvidia（移動出行）、Komatsu（建築）、Hitachi（鐵路）以及 Mitsubishi、Econolite、Intetra 和 Seoul Robotics 等公司，所有這些合作都為我們最近推出的 ITS 系統提供了支持。

With respect to governance, our goal was to establish a strong public company Board to represent our stockholders. We're pleased to have elected a new Board of Directors comprised of numerous highly respected Board members and led by Carol DiBattiste as Chair. Scaling the company has been a key goal of AEye for 2021. We substantially increased our key employee hires in engineering, operations, and sales and marketing to support our product rollout.

在公司治理方面，我們的目標是建立一個強大的上市公司董事會，以代表股東的利益。我們很高興選舉產生了由許多備受尊敬的董事組成的新董事會，並由Carol DiBattiste擔任主席。擴大公司規模一直是AEye在2021年的關鍵目標。為了支持產品推廣，我們大幅增加了工程、營運、銷售和行銷等關鍵部門的員工招募。

As Blair will share later, our new hires included several key executive leaders across the company. In a competitive labor market, we're pleased to be attracting such high-caliber talent from across the LiDAR and automotive industries that will help us to execute on our growth plan. Innovation is critical to our success, and we have now filed over 100 patents for several groundbreaking concepts that should meaningfully expand AEye's competitive position and protect our IP.

正如布萊爾稍後將提到的，我們新聘的幾位高階主管來自公司各部門。在競爭激烈的勞動力市場中，我們很高興能夠吸引來自光達和汽車行業的眾多高素質人才，這將有助於我們實施成長計畫。創新對我們的成功至關重要，目前我們已為多項突破性概念申請了100多項專利，這些專利將顯著提升AEye的競爭地位並保護我們的智慧財產權。

So we've made a lot of progress against our strategic milestones for 2021. And we think that builds a strong foundation for us heading into 2022.

因此，我們在實現 2021 年策略里程碑方面取得了巨大進展。我們認為這為我們邁向 2022 年奠定了堅實的基礎。

Now, let me touch on our third-quarter financial results. Third quarter revenue of $0.1 million was down from the prior quarter, which included significant development contract revenue that did not reoccur in the third quarter. We expect to continue to see significant variability in our revenue quarter to quarter at this stage of AEye's growth.

現在，我想談談我們第三季的財務表現。第三季營收為10萬美元，較上一季下降，原因是上一季包含大量開發合約收入，而這些收入在第三季並未再次出現。我們預計，在AEye目前的成長階段，季度營收仍將有較大波動。

Our GAAP net loss was $17.4 million for the quarter or a loss of $0.15 per share. Non-GAAP net loss was $13.7 million or a loss of $0.12 per share. And our adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $12.5 million.

本季度，我們以美國通用會計準則（GAAP）計算的淨虧損為1,740萬美元，即每股虧損0.15美元。以非美國通用會計準則（Non-GAAP）計算的淨虧損為1,370萬美元，即每股虧損0.12美元。調整後的EBITDA虧損為1250萬美元。

We raised approximately $200 million in net proceeds from our SPAC transaction in the third quarter, which we intend to use to fund investments and product development, increased scale, and support AEye's growing customer base. We also eliminated over $50 million of debt as a result of closing the transaction, including repayment of our bank loans and the conversion of our convertible notes to equity.

第三季度，我們透過SPAC交易募集了約2億美元的淨收益，計劃將其用於投資和產品開發、擴大規模以及支持AEye不斷增長的客戶群。此外，由於交易完成，我們也消除了超過5,000萬美元的債務，包括償還銀行貸款和將可轉換債券轉換為股權。

We closed the third quarter with a strong balance sheet including $182 million of cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities. For the third quarter, our weighted average share count was $114.9 million. As a result of the completion of our de-SPAC transaction, we now have approximately 155 million shares outstanding.

第三季末，我們的資產負債表穩健，持有現金、現金等價物及有價證券共1.82億美元。第三季度，我們的加權平均流通股數為1.149億美元。由於完成了去SPAC交易，我們目前的流通股約為1.55億股。

For modeling purposes, as you think about our outlook, it's important to consider the following factors. We expect revenue from our industrial and mobility business to begin ramping over the course of 2022, but quarterly visibility is limited. We may also have additional development contract revenue in the future, but the amount and timing of that revenue is uncertain. Therefore, we plan to provide annual rather than quarterly guidance, and we will begin offering our 2022 outlook on our fourth-quarter conference call in March.

為了方便建模，在您考慮我們的展望時，請務必考慮以下因素。我們預計工業和移動出行業務的收入將在2022年開始逐步成長，但季度業績的可見性有限。未來我們可能還會獲得額外的開發合約收入，但收入金額和到帳時間尚不確定。因此，我們計劃提供年度而非季度業績指引，並將於3月份的第四季財報電話會議上開始公佈2022年的業績展望。

As a reminder, automotive LiDAR production by Continental using AEye's technology is expected to start in 2024. It's also important to remember that our high-margin technology licensing model in the automotive market and contract manufacturing relationships in the industrial and mobility markets should minimize our capital expenditures and our working capital requirements.

再次提醒，大陸集團採用AEye技術的汽車光達預計於2024年開始生產。此外，值得注意的是，我們在汽車市場採用的高利潤技術授權模式以及在工業和移動出行市場建立的代工生產關係，應該能夠最大限度地減少我們的資本支出和營運資金需求。

Finally, we expect that our operating expenses in the near term will continue to grow significantly as we make investments that support our goal of accelerating LiDAR with our high-performance intelligent LiDAR system.

最後，我們預計，隨著我們進行投資以支援我們利用高性能智慧雷射雷達系統加速雷射雷達發展的目標，我們的營運費用在短期內將繼續大幅增長。

Our team executed well against our strategic milestones in the third quarter, and we look forward to reporting additional progress in the coming quarters.

我們的團隊在第三季很好地完成了各項戰略里程碑，我們期待在接下來的幾季報告更多進展。

With that, I'll pass it back to Blair to share a short video and introduce some of our new executives.

接下來，我將把麥克風交還給布萊爾，讓他播放一段短視頻，介紹我們的一些新高管。

Thanks, Bob. I'd like to wrap up with a look at AEye's greatest asset, our people. We're building an amazing, talented, passionate team. As my dad would say, you have to bet on the people. During 2021, we made significant strides in attracting the top talent in the LiDAR market to AEye.

謝謝，鮑伯。最後我想談談AEye最大的資產——我們的人才。我們正在打造一支卓越、才華洋溢、充滿熱情的團隊。正如我父親常說的，要相信人才。 2021年，我們在吸引光達市場頂尖人才加入AEye方面取得了顯著進展。

In March, we announced the appointment of Rick Tewell as our Chief Operating Officer. Rick was previously the COO at Velodyne. Rick has a demonstrated record of leadership and success in building and operating enterprise-scale technology businesses.

今年三月，我們宣布任命里克·特威爾 (Rick Tewell) 為營運長。里克此前曾擔任 Velodyne 的首席營運長。他在建立和經營企業級技術業務方面擁有卓越的領導能力和成功經驗。

In June, we announced the addition of Hod Finkelstein as our Chief R&D Officer. Previously, Hod was CTO at Sense Photonics, now a subsidiary of Ouster. Hod has led several organizations in the design and productization of disruptive technologies.

今年六月，我們宣布任命霍德芬克爾斯坦 (Hod Finkelstein) 為首席研發長。在此之前，霍德曾擔任 Sense Photonics（現為 Ouster 子公司）的技術長。霍德在顛覆性技術的研發和產品化方面擁有豐富的領導經驗。

In July, we announced the appointment of auto veteran Bernd Reichert to the role of Senior Vice President of ADAS. Bernd previously served as the Global Vice President for ADAS and LiDAR at Valeo, having built their ADAS business over the past seven years.

今年7月，我們宣布任命汽車業資深人士伯恩德·雷切特(Bernd Reichert)擔任ADAS高級副總裁。此前，伯恩德曾擔任法雷奧(Valeo)全球ADAS和雷射雷達(LiDAR)副總裁，並在過去七年中一手打造了該公司的ADAS業務。

And just today, we announced the addition of T.R. Ramachadran in a newly created position as Chief Product Officer. T.R. was most recently the Head of Product Management and Marketing at Cepton and, formerly, was the Vice President of Product Management at Velodyne.

就在今天，我們宣布任命 T.R. Ramachadran 擔任新設立的首席產品長一職。 T.R. 先前曾擔任 Cepton 的產品管理和行銷主管，更早之前，他曾擔任 Velodyne 的產品管理副總裁。

People who know LiDAR best are choosing AEye. The number of exceptional individuals who have joined us this year from other LiDAR companies stands as a testimony to how we are received in the market.

最了解光達技術的人都選擇了AEye。今年眾多來自其他光達公司的傑出人才加入我們，充分證明了我們在市場上的受歡迎程度。

To conclude, we thought it would be inspiring for you to hear from some of our newest hires and the reasons for joining AEye.

最後，我們認為，聽聽我們一些新員工的分享以及他們加入 AEye 的原因，會對您有所啟發。

(video starts)

（影片開始）

To conclude, we thought it would be inspiring for you to hear from some of our newest hires and the reasons for joining us.

最後，我們認為，聽聽我們一些新員工的分享以及他們加入我們的原因，會對您有所啟發。

LiDAR is the mandatory sensor for high-end ADAS and autonomous driving. And it's very simple. AEye has the best technology and performance to meet the market needs.

光達是高階ADAS和自動駕駛的必備感應器，而且使用起來非常簡單。 AEye擁有最先進的技術和性能，能夠滿足市場需求。

I wasn't aware of any other product on the market that was so adaptable in terms of scan patterns and then also that range -- how they're able to achieve that range, but also have this flexible system for multiple situations.

我之前沒見過市面上有其他產品在掃描模式和掃描範圍方面如此靈活——他們是如何實現如此大的掃描範圍的，而且還擁有如此靈活的系統來應對多種情況。

We depend on the software, not the hardware. So hardware is fixed, and software, we can change very quickly. That is a really advantageable way in the development process.

我們依賴的是軟體，而不是硬體。硬體是固定的，而軟體可以快速更改。這在開發過程中是一個非常有利的方式。

AEye was the only company with a unique model to leverage partners and licensing our technology out to those partners to then penetrate perfect type of products into each of those verticals.

AEye 是唯一一家擁有獨特模式的公司，它利用合作夥伴，並將我們的技術授權給這些合作夥伴，然後將完美的產品滲透到每個垂直領域。

The strength of the business model is the fact that we're able to leverage our automotive supply chain with our partner, Continental, into our industrial mobility markets. And it is unique to AEye. And I think it's a tremendous strength that we have.

我們商業模式的優勢在於，我們能夠與合作夥伴大陸集團攜手，將我們的汽車供應鏈優勢拓展到工業移動出行市場。這是AEye獨有的優勢，也是我們擁有的巨大優勢。

And AEye's collaboration with Continental, where customers get AEye's technology with Continental manufacturing, quality, and reliability, and support infrastructure, it means that AEye is one of a very small number of companies who don't just talk the talk but can really walk the walk.

AEye 與大陸集團的合作，讓客戶能夠獲得 AEye 的技術，以及大陸集團的製造、品質、可靠性和支援基礎設施，這意味著 AEye 是極少數不僅能言善道，而且能真正付諸行動的公司之一。

I joined AEye because of the people, for a lot of solid key people with knowledge of how to bring a product like LiDAR to the market.

我加入 AEye 是因為這裡的人，這裡有很多強大的關鍵人物，他們知道如何將像 LiDAR 這樣的產品推向市場。

Everybody's like awesome. They love working with each other, and you can just feel the atmosphere and it's the collaborative and work environment as more of a family unit.

每個人都很棒。他們喜歡彼此合作，你能感受到那種氛圍，這是一個協作的工作環境，更像一個大家庭。

Everybody that works here is incredibly smart, incredibly driven, and enthusiastic, really, about enabling our customers to change the world. It's a really amazing place to be.

在這裡工作的每個人都非常聰明、積極進取、充滿熱情，他們真心希望幫助我們的客戶改變世界。這裡真是一個很棒的工作場所。

(video ends)

（影片結束）

I am confident that AEye's team, along with the world-class Board assembled as part of our public listing, will help us achieve our goal of driving LiDAR adoption across the automotive, industrial, and mobility markets.

我相信，AEye 的團隊，以及我們為上市而組建的世界級董事會，將幫助我們實現推動 LiDAR 在汽車、工業和移動出行市場普及的目標。

Now let's open it up for questions. Operator?

現在進入提問環節。接線生？

(Operator Instructions) Joseph Osha, Guggenheim Partners.

（操作說明）Joseph Osha，古根漢合夥公司。

Hello, everyone. Thanks for the detailed presentation. That was really interesting.

大家好。感謝你們的詳細講解，真的很有趣。

A couple of questions -- I wanted to start with this issue of procurement, in particular, if you look at what your main 1550 competitor has done in wide-band-gap detectors versus your strategy of saying what the market sorted out. Can you explain to us a little bit how you see your strategy being an advantage versus that sort of backward integration that the other guys are pursuing?

我有幾個問題——我想先談談採購方面的問題，特別是你們的主要競爭對手在寬頻隙檢測器領域的做法，以及你們的策略——順應市場需求——有何不同。您能否解釋一下，與其他公司採取的後向一體化策略相比，您認為您們的策略有哪些優勢？

Sure. So thanks for the question, Joe. In every market, there's different strategies. And I think this one is pretty clear.

當然。謝謝你的提問，喬。每個市場都有不同的策略。我認為這個策略很清楚。

You can vertically integrate if you believe that the solution that you need has already been innovated on, and it's in a mature phase, and all you're trying to do is actually to reduce costs with the same components. Or you may actually believe that you're in earlier market, and you'd like to take advantage of an open supply chain, a modular Tier 2 hardware supply chain that's doing a lot of R&D.

如果你認為所需的解決方案已經過創新，並且處於成熟階段，而你只是想在保留現有組件的基礎上降低成本，那麼你可以進行垂直整合。或者，你可能認為自己處於早期市場，並希望利用開放的供應鏈，例如投入大量研發的模組化二級硬體供應鏈。

We felt that our intelligent sensor system was better suited to a supply chain where we can actually, at any given time, as new technology starts to arrive, either from new materials or from cost reduction standpoint, that we can integrate into our product seamlessly.

我們認為，我們的智慧感測器系統更適合這樣的供應鏈：在這樣的供應鏈中，隨著新技術的出現（無論是新材料還是降低成本），我們可以隨時將其無縫整合到我們的產品中。

So I think it's just a different strategy. You could vertically integrate. You're dependent on your own team, or you could have an open supply chain, or you have proprietary designs with standard processes and take advantage of the innovation and size of the global automotive supply chain. We picked the second.

所以我認為這只是不同的策略。你可以選擇垂直整合，完全依賴自己的團隊；也可以選擇開放式供應鏈；或者你可以擁有自主研發的設計和標準化的流程，並利用全球汽車供應鏈的創新能力和規模優勢。我們選擇了第二種方案。

That makes great, great sense. Could you talk a little bit about how you perceive the current opportunities and time of flight versus some of the early rhetoric out there about FMCW?

這很有道理。您能否談談您如何看待當前的機會和飛行時間，以及您與目前關於FMCW的一些早期言論有何不同？

Sure. And at first, I'd like to say that we are not religious about technology itself. What we are religious about is delivering a system to our customers that provide value. If we can't make our customers money and they can't provide value to their customers, then there is no market.

當然。首先，我想說我們並非對科技本身抱持狂熱。我們真正執著的是為客戶提供能夠創造價值的系統。如果我們無法幫助客戶獲利，而他們也無法為他們的客戶提供價值，那麼市場就無從談起。

So one of the premises, as you heard at the beginning of this presentation we came to, was that we would actually look at every technology out there. And we will continue to evaluate as we went along.

正如您在本次演講開始時所聽到的，我們的前提之一是，我們將檢視市面上所有的技術。而且，我們將在過程中不斷進行評估。

And so, LiDAR has been around since 1962. FMCW has been around since 1963. Coherence, in general, is a very well-known concept. We picked what we believed was the most appropriate auto-grade technology today. And we also have a very, very different architecture, as we said, a bistatic architecture where we're separating the send and receive paths.

因此，光達技術自 1962 年就已出現，調頻連續波（FMCW）技術自 1963 年就已出現。相干性本身就是一個非常成熟的概念。我們選擇了我們認為目前最適合汽車級應用的技術。而且，正如我們所說，我們還採用了一種非常獨特的架構——雙基地架構，將發送和接收路徑分開。

So we actually can do things, with our intelligent sensing platform, that many other technologies can't. FMC is a continuous wave. We actually can pulse and change and create different patterns and collect different information using a time-of-flight system, whereas most passive time-of-flight systems can't do that. They work very much like a camera. They get the same density and the same distance everywhere in the scene.

所以，憑藉我們的智慧感測平台，我們實際上可以做到許多其他技術無法做到的事情。 FMC 是一種連續波。我們能夠脈衝式地改變訊號，創造不同的模式，並利用飛行時間系統收集不同的訊息，而大多數被動式飛行時間系統無法做到這一點。它們的工作原理很像相機，在場景的每個角落都能獲得相同的密度和距離資訊。

So I think this, again, was just a technology choice. We believe that if you're going to be in cars in 2024, that you need a technology that is reliable, predictable, and that actually can be produced to automotive-grade supply chain. And we just -- we didn't see the value of added coherence into the system today.

所以我認為這又是一個技術選擇的問題。我們相信，如果你想在2024年繼續生產汽車，你需要一種可靠、可預測，並且能夠按照汽車級供應鏈進行生產的技術。而我們只是──我們看不到在現有系統中增加額外一致性的價值。

Again, that said, we evaluate every year, and our system is modular. If we decide we want to add some functions in, we'll add them in.

話雖如此，我們每年都會進行評估，而且我們的系統是模組化的。如果我們決定要添加一些功能，我們會添加的。

Great, thank you. And then one more for me, and I'll quit monopolizing the call. Obviously, the relationship with Conti is very exciting. Might we see Conti start talking about who some of their end customers are for this product here and if so, when might we expect to hear a bit more about that? Thanks.

太好了，謝謝。我還有一個問題，問完我就不佔通話時間了。顯然，與康迪的合作令人振奮。康迪是否會透露一些這款產品的最終客戶？如果會，我們大概什麼時候能聽到更多相關資訊？謝謝。

Sure. Well, as you know, because you've been in the auto business for a while, most Tier 1s don't talk about who their OEMs are. Because the OEMs, until they get into volume production, see no value in actually talking about who the vendors are at that point in time.

當然。嗯，你也知道，因為你在汽車行業待了一段時間，大多數一級供應商都不會透露他們的原始設備製造商（OEM）是誰。因為在大量生產之前，OEM廠商認為此時談論供應商是誰並沒有什麼意義。

So what Continental has done is they've talked about their installed base of 25 OEMs, the 50 brands they work with. They have also talked about how many people were engaged with -- in RFQs today. But at the end of the day, Continental is our customer, and it will be their decision on when they actually decide to articulate who the specific OEMs are.

所以，大陸集團已經談到了他們的客戶群，包括25家原始設備製造商（OEM）和他們合作的50個品牌。他們也談到了今天有多少客戶參與了詢價。但歸根究底，大陸集團是我們的客戶，最終何時公佈具體的OEM客戶名單，將由他們決定。

It's a lot easier in smaller-volume projects or in smaller brands to actually talk about things and take a risk on it. A lot of the projects we're working on right now are very, very large. And I would expect that Continental would wait until everything was tied up before they articulate them.

在規模較小的專案或小型品牌中，更容易進行深入探討並承擔風險。我們目前正在進行的許多專案規模都非常龐大。我預計大陸集團會在一切塵埃落定之後才會公佈具體細節。

Okay. But just to follow on that, before I go away here, that it would be logical to assume that on the other part of the business where you're just -- you're working with contract manufacturers and selling completed units to your industrial customers that we would hear from you when you strike?

好的。不過，在我離開之前，我想補充一點，如果你們的業務是與代工廠合作，將成品銷售給工業客戶，那麼我們是否可以合理地假設，當你們罷工時，我們會收到你們的消息？

Absolutely. Our customers are the Tier 1s on the high-volume business, and we'll let them talk about their end user.

當然。我們的客戶都是大量業務領域的頂級企業，我們會讓他們來談論他們的最終用戶。

But on the other side of the business where we're producing the hardware and software ourselves and selling into the vertical markets, with the caveat that we would always respect our customers and make sure that we got their permission, we have a lot more flexibility to talk about pilots and rollouts in those markets.

但另一方面，在我們自己生產硬體和軟體並向垂直市場銷售的業務中，只要我們始終尊重客戶並確保獲得他們的許可，我們在談論這些市場的試點和推廣方面就有了更大的靈活性。

Okay. Thank you very much.

好的，非常感謝。

Suji Desilva, ROTH Capital.

Suji Desilva，ROTH Capital。

Hi, Blair. Hi, Bob. So congrats on the SPAC merger close, obviously. So the -- a few more questions on Continental.

嗨，布萊爾。嗨，鮑伯。恭喜SPAC合併完成，這當然是肯定的。那麼——關於大陸集團，還有幾個問題。

Since they already have done high-volume LiDAR manufacturing, I'm wondering if they kind of have a line built out that you would leverage as you go forward or do they have to build out a line in support of your B-sample? Do they need a C-sample to do that line build-out? Just some color there on the remaining steps for Continental would be helpful to understand.

鑑於他們已經進行過大規模的雷射雷達製造，我想知道他們是否已經建成了一條可供您後續合作使用的生產線，還是他們需要為了您的B樣機而新建一條生產線？他們是否需要C樣機來搭建這條生產線？如果您能提供一些關於大陸集團後續步驟的信息，將有助於我更好地理解。

Sure. And as you alluded to, they have produced a tremendous amount of hardware products including LiDAR in the past. Their process is to basically build out the sample line, and then to actually build out the full line, leveraging on that sample line. And that's what they've said publicly, and they are already producing the B-samples as we speak today, as Gunnar referenced in the project.

當然。正如你所提到的，他們過去生產過大量的硬體產品，包括光達。他們的流程基本上是先建造樣品線，然後在此基礎上建立完整的產品線。他們也公開表示過這一點，而且正如Gunnar在專案中提到的，他們現在已經在生產B級樣品了。

One of the reasons that we partnered with them is because of their pragmatism and the reliability and their processes, quite honestly. While we are building product to contract manufacturers, the standards that Continental will have, given that it's selling into a regulated market with high volumes and warranty and liability falls back to them, is much more sophisticated.

我們選擇與他們合作的原因之一，坦白說，是看中了他們務實的精神、可靠性和完善的流程。雖然我們是為代工廠生產產品，但考慮到大陸集團面向的是受監管的大市場，而且產品銷量巨大，保固和責任也由他們承擔，因此他們的標準要高得多。

And so they will be building out a custom line for these products that -- I'm not sure they've announced how big it is. So I won't step on their toes. But as they are committed to, not only building that line, but selling the volume of it.

因此，他們將為這些產品打造一條客製化生產線——我不確定他們是否已經公佈了規模，所以我就不多說了。但他們承諾的不僅是打造這條生產線，還要實現其銷售目標。

And Blair, to follow there, typically, those lines are built to size to committed customer volume to giving you visibility. Is that a fair way to think about it?

布萊爾，接著說，通常情況下，這些生產線是根據既定的客戶訂單量來建造的，目的是為了讓你能清楚地看到訂單情況。這樣理解是否合理？

Yes, but there is a minimum optimal line that you would build out. Again, I'm going to defer back to our partner out of respect, but what I would expect is -- in the industry -- is when you build out a line, you build out a high-volume line, and it's a large line.

是的，但你需要搭建一條最低限度的最佳生產線。再次聲明，出於尊重，我還是把意見交還給我們的合作夥伴，但我認為──在業界──當你搭建一條生產線時，你會搭建一條高產量、大型的生產線。

Understood. I appreciate the sensitivity of the partnering. And then the HRL 131 product you talk about here and then also you talk about Level 2 automation with the software stack and integration. When you have to provide products that are capable of L3 and beyond, is that a software upgrade or do you need to have a reconfigured hardware module?

明白了。我很欣賞這種合作方式的敏感度。您剛才提到的HRL 131產品，以及您提到的軟體堆疊和整合方面的二級自動化，當需要提供能夠達到三級及更高等級的產品時，是軟體升級還是需要重新配置硬體模組？

Right. So in the ADAS market, when we go to market in ADAS where there's Level 2 or Level 3 through our Tier-1s, including Continental, we will supply the software that allows them not only to decide how much they want to unlock.

沒錯。所以在ADAS市場，當我們進入ADAS市場，與包括大陸集團在內的二級或三級ADAS供應商（透過我們的Tier-1供應商）合作時，我們將提供軟體，使他們不僅可以決定他們想要解鎖多少功能。

But it also is an open platform, where it allows them to drop their algorithms and a lot of their IP onto our platform -- that's why we call it a platform -- so that they can customize it for their product and per OEM, given whatever the use case is or the specifications that they're trying to meet.

但它也是一個開放平台，允許他們將自己的演算法和大量智慧財產權放到我們的平台上——這就是我們稱之為平台的原因——這樣他們就可以根據自己的產品和每個 OEM 進行定制，無論他們的用例是什麼，或者他們試圖滿足什麼規格。

So the embedded software license will sit on the sensor, and the hardware will stay the same and be controlled by the different software permutations that they decide. So from one OEM to another, they may have the exact same hardware, which gives us scale, reduces cost, increases reliability. But they will adjust the edge-based intelligent sensor software.

因此，嵌入式軟體授權將位於感測器上，硬體保持不變，並由廠商自行決定的不同軟體配置進行控制。這樣一來，不同OEM廠商可能使用完全相同的硬件，從而實現規模化生產、降低成本並提高可靠性。但他們會根據邊緣運算的智慧感測器軟體進行相應的調整。

And they have the capability, which I believe that they announced them I'm pretty sure, that they not only have the ability to now sell our product as a stand-alone highway autopilot or hub-to-hub trucking, but they've already done the integration into their system with their cameras, their radars, and their control units.

而且他們有能力（我相信他們已經宣布過，我很確定），他們不僅能夠將我們的產品作為獨立的公路自動駕駛系統或樞紐到樞紐的貨運系統進行銷售，而且他們已經將我們的產品與他們的攝影機、雷達和控制單元整合到他們的系統中。

So when they go to a customer, they actually will ask the customer, would you like to buy an individual unit or would you like to have it integrated and part of a bigger system? We think that was one of the reasons we thought -- other than the fact of manufacturing and industrialization and warranty and liability, we also felt like that was really a value to OEMs to be able to have a person come in.

所以當他們去拜訪客戶時，他們會問客戶，您是想購買單一設備，還是想將其整合到更大的系統中？我們認為這是我們考慮的原因之一——除了製造、工業化、保固和責任等因素之外，我們也覺得對於原始設備製造商 (OEM) 來說，能夠安排專人上門服務確實很有價值。

Because at the end of the day, a car is a smart asset. It's becoming much more of a system. And Continental has the capability to actually optimize that system per OEM.

歸根究底，汽車是一種智慧資產。它正變得越來越像一個系統。而大陸集團有能力根據每家汽車製造商的需求，對這個系統進行最佳化。

Okay, that's very helpful color, Blair. Appreciate that. And then switching over to the non-automotive side, I know you have rail and industrial coming online, but also mobility. And you mentioned Nvidia as a mobility partner, which I hadn't seen before. It's kind of that was the channel for that.

好的，布萊爾，這個顏色分析很有幫助，謝謝。接下來我們聊聊非汽車領域，我知道你們有鐵路和工業領域的專案即將上線，還有移動出行領域。你提到英偉達是你們的行動旅遊合作夥伴，我之前沒聽過。看來這確實是你們的頻道。

Do you have mobility wins or have you announced any yet or what is the likelihood that comes in relatively soon? Because I know that market is pretty active for other LiDAR vendors. I'm wondering if you have position there, or whether we should not expect that near term?

你們在行動應用領域是否有斬獲？或是已經宣布過任何合作項目？近期是否有可能有進展？因為我知道其他光達供應商在這個市場非常活躍。我想知道你們是否在這個領域佔有一席之地，或者我們不應該期待短期內會有合作？

No, it's actually something we've been working on for several years. We actually have just and are in process, obviously, with the transfer of a B-sample to release the next generation of our product. So, we will actually get that into production before we start to externalize the movement of pilots into bigger opportunities.

不，實際上我們已經為此努力了好幾年。我們剛剛完成了B樣品的交付，目前正在進行中，目的是發布下一代產品。所以，在將試點計畫推廣到更大市場之前，我們會先把產品投入生產。

So as Bob said, you will see in 2022 that we'll be taking that contract manufacturer product into mobility and industrial. And I would expect that you would see some things later in 2022.

正如鮑伯所說，2022年你們將會看到，我們將把代工產品引入移動出行和工業領域。我預計2022年晚些時候你們還會看到一些其他成果。

But we are already engaged with -- part of being in a small industry in a very specialized industry like LiDAR -- look, on the ADAS side, there's 25 OEMs and 15 commercial truck companies, another 20 up-and-coming companies. There's not that many people and when you talk about mobility, it's a very discrete market. So we've been working -- as our peers have, we've all been working with these companies for a number of years.

但我們已經參與其中——這是身處雷射雷達這種高度專業化的小行業的一部分——你看，在ADAS領域，只有25家原始設備製造商（OEM）和15家商用卡車公司，還有20家新興公司。參與者不多，而且談到出行，這是一個非常獨立的市場。所以，我們和同行一樣，多年來一直與這些公司合作。

Okay, very helpful color, Blair. Thanks.

好的，布萊爾，這個顏色很有幫助。謝謝。

Okay.

好的。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作說明）

I think that may be it for our call. So -- hey, listen, thank you everyone for dialing in. And it's a very exciting time in our marketplace. And the fact that we actually have such a robust set of companies here together, we believe we're all going to make each other better.

我想我們的電話會議就到此為止了。嘿，聽著，感謝各位撥入。我們正處於一個令人興奮的市場時期。我們匯集瞭如此眾多實力雄厚的公司，相信我們彼此都會從中受益。

So thank you for tuning into our first call.

感謝各位收聽我們的第一次電話會議。

Thanks, everybody. Have a great day.

謝謝大家。祝大家今天過得愉快。

Thank you so much to our presenters and to everyone who participated. This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect. Have a great day.

非常感謝各位演講嘉賓及所有與會者。今天的電話會議到此結束，您可以斷開連線了。祝您今天愉快。