科林研發 (LRCX) 2021 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to Lam Research September quarter earnings conference call. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Ms. Tina Correia, Corporate Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations. Please go ahead, ma'am.

大家好，歡迎參加Lam Research九月季度財報電話會議。現在，我將會議交給財務及投資者關係副總裁Tina Correia女士。請她發言。

Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Lam Research quarterly earnings conference call. With me today are Tim Archer, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Doug Bettinger, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝大家，下午好。歡迎參加 Lam Research 的季度財報電話會議。今天與我一同出席的有總裁兼執行長 Tim Archer，以及執行副總裁兼財務長 Doug Bettinger。

During today's call, we will share our overview on the business environment, and we'll review our financial results for the September 2020 quarter and our outlook for the December 2020 quarter. The press release detailing our financial results was distributed a little after 1:00 p.m. Pacific Time this afternoon. The release can also be found on the Investor Relations section of the company's website along with the presentation slides that accompany today's call.

在今天的電話會議上，我們將分享對當前商業環境的概述，並回顧2020年9月季度的財務業績以及對2020年12月季度的展望。詳細介紹我們財務業績的新聞稿已於今天下午太平洋時間1點後不久發布。您也可以在公司網站的投資者關係頁面找到該新聞稿以及本次電話會議的簡報。

Today's presentation and Q&A includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties reflected in the risk factors disclosed in our SEC public filings. Please see accompanying slides in the presentation for additional information.

今天的演示和問答環節包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述受風險和不確定性因素的影響，這些風險和不確定性因素已在提交給美國證券交易委員會（SEC）的公開文件中披露。請參閱簡報中的相關投影片以取得更多資訊。

Today's discussion of our financial results will be presented on a non-GAAP financial basis unless otherwise specified. A detailed reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP results can be found in today's earnings press release.

除非另有說明，我們今天對財務表現的討論將以非公認會計準則（非GAAP）為基礎。有關GAAP和非GAAP業績的詳細調節表，請參閱今天的盈利新聞稿。

This call is scheduled to last until 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time. A replay of this call will be made available later this afternoon on our website.

本次電話會議預計將於太平洋時間下午3點結束。會議錄音將於今天下午晚些時候在我們的網站上提供。

With that, I will hand the call over to Tim.

接下來，我會把電話交給提姆。

Thank you, Tina, and welcome, everyone. Lam delivered very strong September quarter results. Revenues and gross margin came in above the midpoint of the guided range. Operating margin and diluted earnings per share exceeded the high end of the range.

謝謝Tina，也歡迎各位。 Lam公佈了非常強勁的九月季度業績。營收和毛利率均高於預期範圍的中位數。營業利潤率和稀釋後每股收益均超過了預期範圍的上限。

Our performance reflects solid execution across the company. The operating environment remains challenging due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the tremendous dedication of Lam's employees and our partners worldwide is enabling us to perform at a high level. Notably, the September quarter marked record revenue and diluted earnings per share for the company and was also the first quarter in which we have exceeded $1 billion in revenue from our customer support business group. At the midpoint of our December quarter guidance, we will be growing EPS more than 35% year-over-year in 2020. Investments we are making in manufacturing and supply chain resilience are enabling us to meet customers' critical needs in a period of strong demand and are preparing us for the continued growth we see ahead.

我們的業績反映了公司各部門的穩健執行。儘管受新冠疫情影響，營運環境依然充滿挑戰，但Lam員工和全球合作夥伴的鼎力支持使我們能夠保持高水準的業績。值得一提的是，9月季公司營收和攤薄後每股盈餘均創歷史新高，同時客戶支援業務集團的營收也首次突破10億美元大關。根據我們12月季度業績預期的中位數，2020年全年每股收益將年增超過35%。我們在生產製造和供應鏈韌性方面的投入，使我們能夠在需求強勁的時期滿足客戶的關鍵需求，並為未來的持續成長做好準備。

Before I talk about market and product trends, I want to touch upon China-related trade regulations. As has been widely reported, U.S. regulations have impacted our ability to ship wafer fab equipment and parts to a large foundry customer in China. We are working with regulators on this issue and have applied for licenses to ship equipment and parts that are subject to the restrictions. As a result of the current situation, our December quarter guidance reflects an impact to sales to this customer.

在討論市場和產品趨勢之前，我想先談談與中國相關的貿易法規。正如廣泛報導的那樣，美國法規影響了我們向中國一家大型晶圓代工客戶運送晶圓製造設備和零件的能力。我們正在與監管機構就此問題進行溝通，並已申請許可證，以便運送受限制的設備和零件。由於目前的情況，我們對12月季度的業績預期反映了對該客戶的銷售額受到影響。

From a market perspective, we see positive momentum in the underlying drivers of semiconductor growth and believe this translates into a healthy outlook for Lam's business. Work and learn-from-home trends continue to drive demand in key electronics categories, including PCs, storage and networking. Third-party data suggests that growth in PC, notebook and workstation shipments in the calendar third quarter surpassed a 10-year high to reach record levels. Moreover, some memory manufacturers have noted shipping record levels of consumer solid-state drive bits in their most recent quarter.

從市場角度來看，我們看到半導體成長的潛在驅動因素呈現積極勢頭，並相信這將為Lam的業務帶來良好的前景。居家辦公和學習的趨勢持續推動著包括個人電腦、儲存和網路設備在內的關鍵電子產品類別的需求。第三方數據顯示，第三季個人電腦、筆記型電腦和工作站的出貨量成長超過十年來的最高水平，達到歷史新高。此外，一些記憶體製造商也表示，在最近一個季度，消費級固態硬碟的出貨量創下歷史新高。

We believe that many of the changes brought about by this year's shift to remote working and learning environments will be structural. The net result will be a pull-forward of key long-term secular growth themes for the semiconductor industry, including accelerated build-out of cloud data centers and expansion of high-speed communication networks.

我們認為，今年遠距辦公和學習環境的轉變帶來的許多變化將是結構性的。最終結果將推動半導體產業一些關鍵的長期成長主題提前實現，包括加速雲端資料中心的建置和高速通訊網路的擴展。

Against this backdrop, we see WFE spending growing across NAND, DRAM and foundry logic supported by demand fundamentals that should drive continued WFE strength into 2021. The overall, our expectation for WFE in calendar year 2020 remains unchanged from our prior outlook of the mid- to high-$50 billion range with an improved memory mix compared to 2019. Leading edge spending in foundry Logic remains robust, with rising capital intensity and the secular growth drivers discussed earlier effectively resetting equipment spending expectations to a higher level in this segment for the foreseeable future. We are also experiencing strong pull for trailing edge foundry logic nodes due to a pickup in the automotive, IoT and image sensor markets. This helped us deliver in the most recent period another quarter of record sales for our Reliant business.

在此背景下，我們看到NAND快閃記憶體、DRAM和晶圓代工邏輯晶片的晶圓廠設備（WFE）支出持續成長，這得益於基本面的強勁需求，預計WFE的強勁勢頭將延續至2021年。整體而言，我們對2020年WFE的預期與先前的預測保持一致，仍為500億美元中高段，且記憶體結構較2019年有所改善。晶圓代工邏輯晶片的尖端設備支出依然強勁，資本密集度的上升以及前文所述的長期增長驅動因素，有效地將該領域的設備支出預期在可預見的未來推高。此外，由於汽車、物聯網和影像感測器市場的復甦，我們也感受到對後置晶圓代工邏輯節點的強勁需求。這助力我們的Reliant業務在最近一個季度再次創下銷售紀錄。

In NAND, we see spending increasingly focused on 9x layer and beyond devices where higher capital intensity for etch and deposition, combined with Lam's strong market share positions, create even greater opportunity for the company than at prior nodes. Year-on-year, total NAND installed wafer capacity is expected to remain flat, with NAND bit supplies growth still tracking below long-term demand as we exit calendar year 2020.

在NAND領域，我們看到支出正日益集中於9層及以上器件，這些器件在蝕刻和沈積方面需要更高的資本密集度，加之Lam公司強大的市場份額，為公司創造了比以往節點更大的發展機會。預計NAND晶圓總裝置產能將與前一年持平，而隨著2020年即將結束，NAND位供應成長仍將低於長期需求。

In DRAM, customers continue to invest cautiously, and supply growth remains below long-term demand. As a result, we see a positive setup for next year and believe DRAM spending will increase as we progress into 2021. We expect to provide our full 2021 WFE outlook in our January earnings call.

在DRAM領域，客戶持續保持謹慎的投資態度，供應成長仍低於長期需求。因此，我們對明年的前景持樂觀態度，並相信隨著2021年的推進，DRAM支出將會增加。我們預計在1月的財報電話會議上提供完整的2021年WFE（晶圓廠設備）展望。

Turning now to our business updates. We recorded solid progress in the September quarter towards our long-term growth objectives. A fundamental part of our strategy is to deliver broad innovation in equipment, process and support capabilities to help our customers accelerate the transition of next-generation 3D devices into high-volume manufacturing. We are developing a pipeline of differentiated products and services to address what we believe is one of the most pressing challenges for our customers. The need to drive on ever more complex leading edge devices, the node-to-node cost per bit and cost per transistor reductions that have been the key to our industry's success.

現在來看我們的業務最新進展。我們在9月份的季度中取得了穩健的進展，朝著長期成長目標邁進。我們策略的核心在於，透過設備、製程和支援能力的廣泛創新，幫助客戶加速將下一代3D裝置推向大規模生產。我們正在開發一系列差異化的產品和服務，以應對我們認為客戶面臨的最緊迫挑戰之一：不斷推進日益複雜的前沿裝置的研發，以及逐節點降低每位元成本和每晶體管成本——而這正是我們行業成功的關鍵所在。

With this goal, we are investing significant focus this year in two areas: one, accelerating our vision for equipment intelligence solutions; and two, extending our technology leadership in critical high aspect ratio processing. First, Lam Equipment Intelligence is a suite of capabilities, including data-driven modeling, state-of-the-art sensing, adaptive feedback algorithms, augmented reality, remote support and self-maintenance hardware, aimed at shortening process development times and delivering predictable manufacturing ramps at lower cost with fewer resources.

為了實現這一目標，我們今年將重點放在兩個領域：一是加速推進設備智慧解決方案的願景；二是鞏固我們在關鍵高縱橫比加工領域的技術領先地位。首先，Lam 設備智慧解決方案是一套功能強大的系統，包括資料驅動建模、先進的感測技術、自適應回饋演算法、擴增實境技術、遠端支援和自維護硬件，旨在縮短製程開發週期，並以更低的成本和更少的資源實現可預測的生產爬坡。

Our groundbreaking Sense.i etch platform, introduced earlier in 2020, is a great example of a tool designed to leverage our holistic approach to our equipment intelligence offerings. On Sense.i, these capabilities are used to enhance RF and temperature control, improve edge yield, automate routine maintenance activities and reduce chamber matching times across large fleets of tools. In the September quarter, we continued to gain traction for this new product with initial shipments to 2 additional memory customers. We have aligned road map insertion plans with the top memory manufacturers and expect to ship multiple repeat systems in the next few months.

我們在 2020 年初推出的突破性 Sense.i 蝕刻平台，正是我們設備智慧解決方案整體性概念的完美體現。 Sense.i 平台利用這些功能增強射頻和溫度控制，提高邊緣良率，實現日常維護自動化，並縮短大型設備群的腔室匹配時間。在 9 月的季度中，我們繼續推動這款新產品的發展，並已向兩家新的記憶體客戶交付了首批產品。我們已與主要記憶體製造商協調產品路線圖的實施計劃，並預計在未來幾個月內交付多個重複系統。

While new platforms like Sense.i are designed for equipment intelligence from initial concept, we have also demonstrated this year that customers can realize significant value by deploying select elements of our equipment intelligence solution set as options or upgrades for their current generation systems. For example, our Corvus R automated self-maintenance feature, available on our Kiyo conductor edge system, has been proven to shorten maintenance cycles and improve process repeatability on critical and semi-critical applications. As a result, the installed base of Kiyo etch systems equipped with Corvus R technology is on pace to expand by more than 4x in calendar year 2020.

雖然像 Sense.i 這樣的新平台從最初概念階段就旨在實現設備智慧化，但我們今年也證明，客戶可以透過將我們設備智慧解決方案中的特定組件作為現有系統的選件或升級選項，實現顯著價值。例如，我們 Kiyo 導電邊緣系統配備的 Corvus R 自動化自維護功能，已被證實能夠縮短維護週期，並提高關鍵和半關鍵應用中的製程重複性。因此，配備 Corvus R 技術的 Kiyo 蝕刻系統的裝機量預計將在 2020 年增長 4 倍以上。

Lam Equipment Intelligence is also enabling new types of remote support that have proven vital to business resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Big data analytics approaches to enhance troubleshooting and simplify process optimization are seeing growing adoption. In 2020, our data enhanced service activities are on track to grow 3x over the prior year. Virtual reality technologies are allowing us to continue training engineers across the globe to further develop their skills on our latest systems without the need for international travel. Similarly, the latest innovations in augmented reality headset devices are allowing us to connect engineers at customer sites to real-time expert support in our factory often as much as halfway around the world. Our Customer Support Business Group is projecting 6x growth in remote support engagements this year.

Lam Equipment Intelligence 也推出了新型遠端支援服務，這些服務在新冠疫情期間已被證明對企業韌性至關重要。大數據分析方法在增強故障排除和簡化流程最佳化方面的應用日益廣泛。 2020 年，我們數據增強型服務活動預計將比前一年增長三倍。虛擬實境技術使我們能夠繼續培訓全球各地的工程師，幫助他們在無需出國旅行的情況下，進一步提昇在我們最新系統上的技能。同樣，擴增實境頭戴裝置的最新創新使我們能夠將客戶現場的工程師與我們工廠的即時專家支援連接起來，即使遠隔半個地球。我們的客戶支援業務集團預計，今年遠端支援服務量將成長六倍。

We believe building an ecosystem of smart tools and intelligent services will help drive sustainable cost reductions across the semiconductor manufacturing process and generate growth for our installed base business. Revenue from our productivity focused offerings, including advanced services, is expected to grow approximately 25% in this calendar year.

我們相信，建立智慧工具和智慧服務生態系統將有助於在整個半導體製造過程中實現可持續的成本降低，並為我們現有的業務帶來成長。預計本年度，我們以提高生產力為重點的產品（包括先進服務）的收入將成長約 25%。

In the area of process technology, the continued vertical scaling of 3D device and packaging architectures across all market segments creates a compelling long-term growth story for Lam. Over the past decade, we have built a winning track record in etch and deposition at the 3D inflections, most notably in the transition to 3D NAND. In the September quarter, we further extended our lead in 3D NAND with favorable high aspect ratio conductor etch decisions for devices beyond 200 layers and new application wins in dielectric ALD gap fill and carbon hardmask deposition.

在製程技術領域，3D元件和封裝架構在所有細分市場的持續垂直擴展，為Lam公司創造了極具吸引力的長期成長前景。過去十年，我們在3D技術轉型的關鍵階段，尤其是在3D NAND的過渡階段，累積了豐富的蝕刻和沈積經驗。在9月的季度中，我們憑藉在200層以上元件的高深寬比導體蝕刻方面取得的有利決策，以及在介電ALD間隙填充和碳硬掩模沉積方面的新應用，進一步鞏固了我們在3D NAND領域的領先地位。

Our high aspect ratio processing expertise also applies to emerging 3D packaging architectures. In foundry logic, it has been estimated that 3D heterogeneous integration solutions can enable cost reductions of approximately 20% for leading-edge nodes. In addition, 3D chip stacking is delivering performance advantages for advanced image sensors and high bandwidth memory. We expect etch and deposition intensity in advanced packaging and our corresponding revenue opportunity to continue to increase as more integration schemes leverage 3D scaling. In the most recent quarter, we received multiple follow-on orders for our SABRE 3D electroplating and Syndion etch tools for this market. And since 2015, our installed base for both tools has doubled.

我們高縱橫比加工技術同樣適用於新興的3D封裝架構。在代工邏輯領域，據估計，3D異質整合解決方案可為前沿節點降低約20%的成本。此外，3D晶片堆疊技術也為先進影像感測器和高頻寬記憶體帶來了性能優勢。我們預計，隨著更多整合方案利用3D微縮技術，先進封裝領域的蝕刻和沈積強度以及相應的收入機會將持續成長。在最近一個季度，我們收到了多份針對該市場的SABRE 3D電鍍設備和Syndion蝕刻設備的後續訂單。自2015年以來，這兩款設備的裝機量都已翻了一番。

Looking forward, I am more confident than ever that Lam's capabilities and strategic investments are well aligned with the fundamental needs of our customers and our industry. The complexity and cost scaling challenges for future technology nodes require comprehensive innovation in products and services that drive efficiencies from the very beginning of the design process all the way through to the support and maintenance activities in a high-volume manufacturing fab. This focus is fast becoming the thread that ties together our strategic growth objectives, and we are pleased that we are beginning to see the results of our efforts reflected in our strong financial performance.

展望未來，我比以往任何時候都更加確信，Lam 的能力和策略投資與客戶和產業的根本需求高度契合。未來技術節點的複雜性和成本規模化挑戰要求我們在產品和服務方面進行全面創新，從設計流程的最初階段到高產量製造工廠的後續支援和維護活動，全面提升效率。這項重點正迅速成為貫穿我們各項策略成長目標的紐帶，我們很高興看到，我們努力的成果已開始體現在我們強勁的財務表現中。

Thank you again for joining today's call. And now here's Doug.

再次感謝各位參加今天的電話會議。現在請道格發言。

Thanks, Tim. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. I hope everyone has continued to remain safe and healthy. We're extremely pleased with our operational and financial execution in the September quarter. We delivered record performance in multiple areas, including total revenue, which came in at $3.18 billion. And as Tim mentioned, as part of that revenue, we achieved over $1 billion of revenue in our Customer Support Business Group. These results are clear evidence of our ability to grow the company and meet the needs of our customers while further improving our business resiliency.

謝謝，蒂姆。大家下午好，感謝各位今天參加我們的會議。希望大家都平安健康。我們對九月份季度的營運和財務表現非常滿意。我們在多個領域都取得了創紀錄的業績，包括總收入達到31.8億美元。正如提姆所提到的，其中客戶支援業務集團的收入超過10億美元。這些業績清楚地證明了我們有能力發展公司，滿足客戶需求，同時進一步提升業務韌性。

Our September revenues increased 14% from the June quarter driven by customers' technology investments to meet long-term growth opportunities. These opportunities range across multiple vectors, such as data centers, 5G networks, smartphones, gaming consoles and personal computers. In the September quarter, we also had a record level of earnings per share coming in at $5.67, the results of our solid revenue and gross margin performance.

受客戶為掌握長期成長機會而加大科技投資的推動，我們9月份的營收較6月份季度成長了14%。這些機會涵蓋資料中心、5G網路、智慧型手機、遊戲主機和個人電腦等多個領域。 9月季度，我們每股盈餘也創下歷史新高，達到5.67美元，這得益於我們穩健的營收和毛利率表現。

Let me now move on to provide some color on our systems revenue. There were continued strong investments in the Foundry segment, and we had the highest system revenue dollars per foundry in our company's history. Our customers invested broadly, with spending targeted at 14, 7 and 5 nanometers. Foundry represented 36% of our systems revenue for the September quarter.

接下來，我將詳細介紹我們的系統收入。我們在晶圓代工領域持續加大投入，單一晶圓代工廠的系統收入創下公司歷史新高。客戶投資範圍廣泛，主要集中在14奈米、7奈米和5奈米製程領域。晶圓代工業務在9月的季度中占我們系統收入的36%。

The memory segment was also strong in the September quarter, coming in at 58% of systems revenue. NAND represented 39% of our system quarter revenue, with investment spending at 64-, 96- and 128-layer devices. We saw increases in DRAM spending, which contributed 19% of our systems revenue, which was up from 16% in the June quarter. Customer investments focused primarily on node transitions to 1y and 1z. We continue to see memory bit supply growth in the near term below long-term demand growth, supporting our belief that the memory market remains at a healthy place from an inventory management as well as investment standpoint. And finally, the Logic/Other segment was down quarter-to-quarter and contributed the remaining 6% of systems revenue in the September quarter compared to 10% in June.

9 月季度，記憶體業務表現強勁，佔系統總營收的 58%。其中，NAND 快閃記憶體貢獻了 39% 的系統總收入，投資主要集中在 64 層、96 層和 128 層裝置上。 DRAM 支出也有所成長，佔系統總收入的 19%，高於 6 月季度的 16%。客戶投資主要集中在向 1y 和 1z 流程節點的過渡。我們預期短期內記憶體供應量的成長將低於長期需求成長，這印證了我們對記憶體市場在庫存管理和投資方面依然保持健康狀態的看法。最後，邏輯/其他業務板塊環比下滑，9 月季度貢獻了剩餘的 6% 系統總收入，而 6 月為 10%。

For regional revenue concentration, as we discussed last quarter, we see solid levels of investment in the China region, which came in at 37% of total revenues in the September quarter. The majority of that revenue again came from domestic Chinese customers in the quarter. We have a broad base of customers in the China region, and despite the trade regulations that have impacted us with certain customers, we see continued strength in this region for our business from both domestic and multinational customers.

關於區域收入集中度，正如我們上季度所討論的，中國地區的投資水準穩健，在9月份的季度中佔總收入的37%。該季度的大部分收入仍來自中國國內客戶。我們在中國地區擁有廣泛的客戶基礎，儘管貿易法規對我們與部分客戶的關係產生了一定影響，但我們預計來自國內和跨國客戶的業務在該地區仍將保持強勁勢頭。

We achieved another record quarter of revenue for our Customer Support Business Group at just over $1 billion, as I previously mentioned. This was an 11% increase from the June quarter level and over 28% higher versus the same quarter in 2019. In addition to the strength of our advanced service offerings, we're optimizing the capabilities of our installed base through technology and productivity upgrades. We also continue to see strong demand in the refurbished tool business driven by growth in various applications within the specialty technology markets. You should think about things like IOT, RF and power devices. We're on track to deliver the growth objective of over 40% cumulative revenue growth between 2019 and 2023 for CSBG that we outlined at our Investor Day earlier this year.

正如我之前提到的，我們的客戶支援業務集團（CSBG）再次創下季度營收新高，略高於10億美元。這比6月份的季度水準成長了11%，比2019年同期成長了28%以上。除了我們先進的服務產品實力雄厚之外，我們還透過技術和生產力升級來優化現有客戶群的能力。此外，受專業技術市場各種應用成長的推動，翻新工具業務的需求依然強勁。您可以考慮物聯網、射頻和電源設備等領域。我們正朝著今年稍早投資者日上提出的CSBG在2019年至2023年間累計營收成長超過40%的目標穩步邁進。

Our gross margin for the September quarter was 47.5%, at the high end of our guidance range. Customer and product mix are always factors impacting our gross margin. We also experienced favorable impacts in the quarter related to increased factory and field utilization.

我們9月季度的毛利率為47.5%，處於預期範圍的高端。顧客和產品組合始終是影響毛利率的因素。此外，工廠和現場利用率的提高也對本季的毛利率產生了積極影響。

We made more progress on our production efficiencies as we operate with COVID-19-related safety protocols. We are experiencing higher cost in the global freight and logistics area and expect these elevated costs will continue until broader airfreight availability becomes available.

在遵守新冠肺炎疫情相關安全規程的前提下，我們的生產效率得到了進一步提升。然而，全球貨運和物流成本持續上漲，預計在空運能力全面恢復之前，這種高成本局面將持續存在。

September quarter operating expenses were $523 million. Over 2/3 of our spending remains focused on R&D as we continue to make progress in our growth initiatives for market share and technology disruptions to expand our served available markets. Incentive compensation was higher as well during the quarter related to our higher profitability levels. We are maintaining travel and other expenses at lower levels as we continue to work remotely in many locations.

9 月季度營運支出為 5.23 億美元。超過三分之二的支出仍用於研發，我們將繼續推動市佔率成長計劃，並透過技術革新拓展現有市場。由於獲利能力提升，本季激勵性薪酬也有所增加。由於我們繼續在許多地區遠距辦公，因此差旅和其他費用保持在較低水平。

Our operating margin in the September quarter came in over the guidance range at 31.1% with operating income of $988 million. Our non-GAAP tax rate for the quarter was 10.9%. We will have fluctuations in our tax rate from quarter-to-quarter, and you should continue to expect the ongoing tax rate to be in the low-teens level.

我們9月季度的營業利潤率達到31.1%，超出預期範圍，營業收入為9.88億美元。該季度的非GAAP稅率為10.9%。我們的稅率會隨季度波動，預計持續稅率將維持在10%左右的低點。

As we've noted before, we expect other income and expense will vary quarter-to-quarter based on several market-related items. Think about things like foreign exchange and the level of interest rates. Other income and expense was approximately $51 million in expense, which was higher than in the June quarter. The increase was driven by lower interest income on our cash and investment balances as well as the impact of a full quarter of interest expense associated with the $2 billion debt offering that we completed at the end of April.

正如我們之前提到的，我們預期其他收入和支出會因多種市場因素而逐季波動，例如匯率和利率水準。其他收入和支出約為5,100萬美元，高於6月份的季度。成長的主因是現金和投資餘額的利息收入減少，以及4月底完成的20億美元債券發行所產生的一整季利息支出。

Let me now shift gears and move on to capital return. We continue to drive strong cash flow and remain committed to the targets we laid out at our Investor Day earlier this year to have our capital return at 75% to 100% of free cash flow. We were active in our buyback activity during the September quarter and repurchased approximately $450 million of stock. In addition, we paid $167 million in dividends in the quarter. I would also like to highlight that we announced in August a dividend increase from $1.15 to $1.30 per share each quarter, which was paid in October.

現在讓我轉換話題，談談資本回報。我們持續保持強勁的現金流，並堅持今年稍早投資者日上所訂定的目標，即實現75%至100%的自由現金流資本回報率。我們在9月的季度積極進行股票回購活動，回購了約4.5億美元的股票。此外，我們在該季度支付了1.67億美元的股息。我還想強調的是，我們在8月宣布將每股季度股息從1.15美元提高到1.30美元，並已於10月支付。

Diluted earnings per share came in at $5.67, above the guidance range we provided for the September quarter. Our diluted share count was essentially flat for the September quarter at 147 million shares, as we expected. The share count includes the dilutive impact of approximately 900,000 shares from the 2041 convertible notes. The dilution schedule for the remaining 2041 convertible notes is available on our Investor Relations website for your reference.

稀釋後每股收益為 5.67 美元，高於我們先前對 9 月季度業績的預期範圍。正如我們預期，9 月季度的稀釋後股份數量基本上持平，為 1.47 億股。該股份數量包含了 2041 年可轉換債券約 90 萬股的稀釋影響。剩餘 2041 年可轉換債券的稀釋計畫表可在投資者關係網站上查閱。

Let me now move on to the balance sheet. Cash and short-term investments, including restricted cash, decreased slightly in the September quarter to $6.9 billion from $7 billion in the June quarter. Cash flows from operations came in at $643 million, which is a solid performance in an environment where we continue to deploy cash towards working capital to support increased business volumes. DSO decreased slightly in the September quarter to 66 days from 68 days in the June quarter. Inventory turns were also slightly down from the prior quarter, coming in at 3.1x. Inventory balances are somewhat higher as we are growing inventory to support higher business levels as well as to mitigate risk from potential supply chain disruptions.

現在我來看資產負債表。現金及短期投資（包括受限現金）在9月季略有下降，從6月季的70億美元降至69億美元。經營活動產生的現金流量為6.43億美元，在我們持續將現金投入營運資本以支持業務量成長的環境下，這是一個穩健的業績。應收帳款週轉天數（DSO）在9月季略有下降，從6月季的68天降至66天。存貨週轉率也較上一季略有下降，為3.1倍。由於我們增加了庫存以支持業務成長並降低潛在供應鏈中斷的風險，因此存貨餘額略高。

Noncash expenses were approximately $56 million for equity compensation, $56 million for depreciation and $17 million for amortization. Capital expenditures in the September quarter increased from June to a total of $63 million. We are slightly ramping up capital spending to support things like the Sense.i platform development, our new Malaysia factory and the technology lab that we announced in Korea. Ending head count for the September quarter was approximately 11,700 regular full-time employees. We added resources to support the higher levels of customer activity in the factory and in the field. Additionally, we're supporting new activities in research and development areas like Sense.i, enhanced ALD and dry resist.

非現金支出包括約 5,600 萬美元的股權激勵、5,600 萬美元的折舊和 1,700 萬美元的攤銷。 9 月季度的資本支出較 6 月增加，總額達 6,300 萬美元。我們正在略微增加資本支出，以支援 Sense.i 平台開發、馬來西亞新工廠以及我們在韓國宣布成立的技術實驗室等項目。截至 9 月季度末，該公司共有約 11,700 名全職正式員工。我們增加了資源，以支援工廠和現場客戶業務量的增加。此外，我們也正在支援 Sense.i、增強型原子層沉積 (ALD) 和乾式光阻等研發領域的新活動。

Looking ahead, I'd now like to provide our non-GAAP guidance for the December 2020 quarter. We're expecting revenue of $3.3 billion, plus or minus $200 million; gross margin of 46%, plus or minus 1 percentage point. Gross margin is a bit lower as we see a less favorable mix as well as ongoing COVID-related expenses. Operating margins of 29.5%, plus or minus 1 percentage point; and finally, earnings per share of $5.60, plus or minus $0.40, based on a share count of approximately 146 million shares.

展望未來，我現在想提供我們2020年12月季度的非GAAP業績指引。我們預計營收為33億美元，上下浮動2億美元；毛利率為46%，上下浮動1個百分點。毛利率略有下降，原因是產品組合不太理想以及持續的新冠疫情相關支出。營業利益率為29.5%，上下浮動1個百分點；最後，基於約1.46億股的流通股數量，每股收益為5.60美元，上下浮動0.40美元。

Now in an effort to address a question I know everyone has concerning our business with a large Chinese foundry, I'll just give you a direct update relative to the guidance. As Tim mentioned, we are fully complying with all regulations and have applied for licenses to allow us to ship tools and parts to them. The status of the license approval is uncertain. The revenue and earnings guidance I just provided is lower than it otherwise would have been as a result of this uncertainty.

現在，為了解答大家對我們與中國一家大型鑄造廠業務往來的一個疑問，我將直接向大家報告一下業績指引的最新情況。正如Tim所提到的，我們完全遵守所有相關規定，並已申請許可證，以便向該鑄造廠運送工具和零件。許可證的審批結果尚不明朗。正因如此，我剛才給出的收入和獲利預期低於預期。

With the results we've delivered and the guidance we provided for the December quarter, the 2020 calendar year is expected to be the strongest ever in the 40-year history of Lam Research. We're well positioned to gain from the continued strength in investments across all segments of the semiconductor industry.

憑藉我們已取得的業績以及對第四季度業績的預期，2020年預計將成為Lam Research 40年歷史上業績最強勁的一年。我們已做好充分準備，從半導體產業各個細分市場的投資持續強勁成長中獲益。

That concludes my prepared remarks. Operator, Tim and I would now like to open up the call for questions.

我的發言到此結束。現在，我和接線員提姆將開始接受提問。

(Operator Instructions) We'll go ahead and take our first question from C.J. Muse with Evercore.

（操作員說明）接下來，我們將接受來自 Evercore 的 C.J. Muse 的第一個問題。

I guess first question, on the NAND side, I think there's a notion that perhaps we might be nearing a peak on spending. So would love to hear your thoughts on, a, how do you think about your revenue opportunity on just node migration versus new wafer starts; and then b, can you kind of walk through the revenue opportunity, which sounds like it's increasing as we migrate from the 9x layer node to 128 layers and above.

我想問的第一個問題是，關於NAND快閃記憶體方面，我認為目前有一種觀點認為我們可能已經接近支出高峰。所以我想聽聽您對以下兩點的看法：a，您如何看待僅從節點升級到新晶圓開工所帶來的收入機會；b，您能否詳細解釋一下收入機會，聽起來隨著我們從9層節點升級到128層及以上節點，收入機會正在增加。

Sure. Let me start, C.J. Yes, I think that you probably called out the most important point right there at the end. What we have continuously said is that because of the role that etch and deposition play in building devices, our opportunity is growing quite significantly at each of those node migrations. And so from our revenue perspective, we clearly see that revenue continues to grow in 3D NAND into the future.

當然。我先來，C.J.。是的，我認為你剛才最後提到的那一點最為關鍵。我們一直強調的是，由於蝕刻和沈積在裝置製造中扮演著重要角色，因此在每個節點升級中，我們的機會都在顯著增長。所以從營收角度來看，我們清楚地看到，3D NAND 的營收在未來將持續成長。

From a spending perspective, obviously, any time we continue to see higher and higher numbers, people start to think about a peak. But again, if you looked at and thought about what I said about supply growth, we still see ourselves exiting this year with supply growth remaining below the long-term trend line and also, if you go back and reference the data point we've given a couple of times at the NAND flash -- the Flash Memory Summit, about 5-year spending requirements to meet what we see as long-term demand growth in the high 30% range. That is -- we're kind of nearing those spend levels right now after a couple of years of previously of underspending that. And so I think that we're still quite confident about how we enter 2021 from a NAND spending perspective.

從支出角度來看，顯然，當我們看到支出數字持續攀升時，人們就會開始考慮高峰。但是，如果你回顧我之前提到的供應成長情況，我們仍然預計今年的供應成長將低於長期趨勢線。此外，如果你回顧我們在NAND快閃峰會上多次提到的數據，即為了滿足我們預測的30%以上的長期需求成長，未來五年需要投入多少資金。也就是說，在經歷了前幾年的支出不足之後，我們目前正接近這個支出水準。因此，我認為我們仍然對2021年NAND快閃記憶體的支出前景充滿信心。

That's very helpful. As my follow-up, on the CSBG side, you saw great acceleration on a year-over-year basis, I think, up 29%. So curious, is that a function of higher utilization rates at customers? Is there kind of onetime upgrades in there? Or is that tools coming off warranty? And as part of that, how should we kind of think about the growth trajectory of that business for all of fiscal '21?

這很有幫助。我的後續問題是，關於CSBG業務，您看到的是年增了29%，增幅非常顯著。我很好奇，這是否與客戶更高的使用率有關？其中是否包含一次性升級？還是因為部分工具已過保固期？此外，我們該如何看待該業務在2021財年的整體成長軌跡？

Sure. Well, it's -- maybe the last part first, which is, as Doug pointed out, probably the best way to think about it is future growth is still the same as what we said in March, which is a 40% growth between -- out to 2023. But we did see an acceleration. And I think what you're seeing is, in some ways, the power of that business, which is made up of several different components, you pointed out some of them, a sensitivity to utilization, which is primarily in the spares business.

當然。嗯，或許應該先說最後一部分，正如道格指出的，這可能是理解這個問題的最佳方式：未來的增長仍然與我們三月所說的相同，即到2023年將增長40%。但我們確實看到了成長加速。我認為你現在看到的，在某種程度上，正是這項業務的強大之處，它由幾個不同的部分組成，你也提到了其中一些，例如對利用率的敏感性，這主要體現在備件業務上。

And then also, as customers look to get more out of their existing installed base, I mean, a lot of my script talking about how customers are looking for ways to to enable these transitions and enable high-volume manufacturing ramps, but we are sensitive to how much it costs to do that. And so customers continue to look for technology and productivity upgrades to make that installed base as valuable to them as possible. So we have seen upgrades increase in terms of that. And then I also mentioned spending on refurbishment and other systems as well. And so it's a multifaceted business. And I think that right now, we're hitting all of the angles that are very important to our customers.

此外，隨著客戶尋求更充分地利用現有設備，我的演講稿中也多次提到客戶正在尋找實現轉型和大規模生產爬坡的方法，但我們也清楚這樣做的成本。因此，客戶不斷尋求技術和生產力方面的升級，以最大限度地發揮現有設備的價值。我們看到這方面的升級需求有所成長。我還提到了翻新和其他系統方面的支出。所以這是一個多方面的業務。我認為目前，我們正在關注客戶非常重視的各個方面。

And we'll go ahead and take our next question from Harlan Sur with JPMorgan.

接下來，我們將接受摩根大通的哈蘭‧蘇爾提出的問題。

Great job on the quarterly execution and strong results. It's been 2 years of sort of weak, flattish DRAM spending, but as the demand profile looks strong next year and you have the early move to 1-alpha node, 2021 is looking like a growth year for DRAM spending. And on top of that, the memory architecture has always been very 3D-like. And similar to NAND, like, aspect ratios are increasing, tighter tolerances on material thicknesses and so on. So ahead of the strong DRAM year, how do you view your SAM and share expansion potential on some of these next-generation 1-alpha DRAM architectures?

季度業績執行出色，業績強勁。過去兩年DRAM支出成長乏力，但明年需求前景強勁，且貴公司已提前邁向1-alpha流程節點，因此2021年DRAM支出可望成長。此外，DRAM的儲存架構一直以來都呈現出高度立體化的特性。與NAND快閃記憶體類似，DRAM的縱橫比不斷提高，材質厚度公差也越來越小等等。在DRAM市場即將迎來強勁成長的一年之際，您如何看待貴公司在下一代1-alpha DRAM架構上的SAM和股份成長潛力？

Yes. Just to kind of reiterate comments we've made in the past, I mean, we -- as you pointed out, every time you move forward in technology, whether it's 3D NAND we just spent time talking about or here in DRAM, the features are getting taller, the aspect ratios are getting more difficult and that is requiring more etch and deposition technology, and it tends to expand our SAM. What we've said is every technology node in DRAM, NAND and foundry logic, our SAM grows as the technology moves forward. So your question about DRAM is no different. We do anticipate and we said that we think we enter 2021 with a good setup for rising DRAM spending, as you pointed out, a couple of years of flattish DRAM spending where we've kind of been undergrowing long-term demand. And so we combine increased spending with we see as higher intensity due to these technology changes that require more etch and deposition equipment. We think it's a good setup for Lam going into 2021.

是的。我只是想重申我們過去的觀點，正如您所指出的，每當技術向前發展，無論是我們剛才討論的3D NAND，還是DRAM，其特徵高度都在增加，縱橫比也越來越難實現，這就需要更多的蝕刻和沈積技術，從而擴大我們的SAM（庫存管理規模）。我們說過，DRAM、NAND和代工邏輯晶片的每一個技術節點，隨著技術的進步，我們的SAM都會成長。所以您關於DRAM的問題也不例外。我們預計，也說過，我們認為進入2021年時，DRAM支出將穩定成長。正如您所指出的，過去幾年DRAM支出成長較為平緩，長期需求一直低於預期。因此，我們認為支出增加，再加上這些技術變革帶來的高強度需求（需要更多的蝕刻和沈積設備），將有利於Lam公司進入2021年。

Great. And then, Doug, obviously, very strong gross margin performance by the company. And that's even still with the higher logistics and transport and freight-related costs due to COVID-19. Can you just give us an update here and maybe give us a sense on how big that impact is to your gross margins, either in the just reported September quarter or in the December quarter guide?

太好了。道格，很顯然，公司的毛利率表現非常強勁。即便是在受新冠疫情影響，物流、運輸和貨運相關成本上升的情況下，依然如此。您能否為我們更新一下情況，並簡要說明這些成本對毛利率的影響程度，無論是剛公佈的九月季度業績，還是十二月季度業績展望？

Yes, Harlan, I haven't quantified it, but it's noticeable, let me put it that way. I mean freight logistics spending is quite expensive right now simply because there's just not enough airfreight flying across the Pacific Ocean where a lot of our stuff comes and goes. But I haven't quantified it. Harlan, the right way, maybe just thinking back longer-term to the financial model, but the right way to think about it is still the numbers that are embedded in there. Right now, when I think about the revenue levels we're at, we're trending a little bit below what might be in that model and it's because of the COVID in efficiencies, in particular, freight and logistics. I'm not going to quantify it for you, though, but that's how you should be thinking about it. And we had a really positive mix in September. We don't have quite as positive mix in December. So that's the commentary around sequential gross margin.

是的，哈蘭，我還沒具體量化，但確實很明顯，這麼說吧。我的意思是，目前的貨運物流支出相當高，原因很簡單，就是跨太平洋的空運量不足，而我們很多貨物都是經由太平洋進出的。但我還沒具體量化。哈蘭，或許應該從更長遠的角度來看待財務模型，但正確的思考方式仍然是關注模型中包含的數字。就目前而言，我們的收入水準略低於模型預測值，這是因為新冠疫情影響了效率，尤其是在貨運和物流方面。我不會給你具體量化，但你應該這樣理解。 9月我們的產品組合非常出色，但12月的產品組合就沒那麼好了。以上就是關於毛利率環比的分析。

We'll go ahead and take our next question from John Pitzer with Crédit Suisse.

接下來，我們將接受瑞士信貸的約翰‧皮策所提出的問題。

Congratulations on the strong results. I guess, Tim, Doug, you talked about SMIC in the December quarter being a hit, but I was hoping you could quantify that. And as you do, kind of help us understand how China might trend as a percent of revenue in the December quarter. It's been well above trend. And I know you've talked about broad-based strength, but do you see that kind of well above trend representation in the December quarter as well.

祝賀你們取得如此強勁的業績。提姆、道格，你們之前提到中芯國際在12月季度表現出色，但我希望你們能具體說明一下。另外，能否幫我們分析一下中國市場在12月季度營收佔比的趨勢？目前來看，中國市場的表現遠超預期。我知道你們之前提到過整體業績強勁，但你們認為12月季度中國市場的表現也同樣遠超預期嗎？

Yes, John, I'm not going to quantify the large Chinese foundry impact to the guide. I think the numbers I've seen people suggest, percent of revenue, WFE, in a longer-term basis, the right way to kind of think about where that particular customer might have been and could continue to be if we are all in the industry, able to get licenses. In any given quarter, it can be up or down as all customers are. So I'm not going to specifically quantify it in December, but I think you know roughly how big they are.

是的，約翰，我不會量化中國大型晶圓代工廠對市場的影響。我認為我看到有人建議用營收百分比或晶圓廠設備（WFE）等指標來衡量，從長遠來看，這才是思考特定客戶過去和未來發展方向的正確方法，前提是我們所有人都能在這個行業裡，都能獲得授權許可。每個季度，他們的業績都會像所有客戶一樣波動。所以我不會在12月具體量化他們的業績，但我相信你大致了解他們的規模。

That's helpful. And I apologize for the follow-up, but you guys clearly understand the concern out there is how much of the China strength is related to customers there being worried about full bans going into China by the U.S. government. Tim, I'd like to get your kind of thoughts. In a worst-case scenario, if the U.S. were to ban equipment going into China, how much of the China CapEx in WFE today do you think would need to be reconstituted in other geographies to support demand? And how much of it do you think could be lost and just representative of kind of China building in anticipation of demand multiple years out as they go pursue their semiconductor -- domestic semiconductor strategy.

這很有幫助。很抱歉我還要追問，但你們顯然明白，目前大家的擔憂在於，中國市場的強勁勢頭有多少是源於中國客戶擔心美國政府會全面禁止產品進入中國。提姆，我想聽聽你的看法。在最糟糕的情況下，如果美國真的禁止設備進入中國，你認為目前中國在晶圓廠設備（WFE）領域的資本支出有多少需要轉移到其他地區來滿足需求？又有多少投資可能會因此而損失，僅僅代表著中國為了推進其半導體——尤其是國內半導體戰略——而提前多年進行的投資？

Well, I mean it's a very difficult question to answer from the standpoint that, in many ways, what you just implied in the question was that some of that may be building in China in anticipation of demand they see several years out. We think that demand, I mean, for all of the reasons that we talked about, whether it's -- I mean it's just the digitization of the global economy, that's occurring everywhere. And so we think that demand remains. And so to your point of how much of it gets reconstituted, how much of it gets satisfied, I think China demand, global demand, has to be satisfied by somebody. And so I think, ultimately, a lot of it gets reconstituted. And the only part that might not be is what we have acknowledged, and I think most people recognize, is as you're coming up the learning curve, there can be, in the short term, some overspending as you're learning and you're building yield and you're gaining efficiencies.

嗯，我的意思是，從某個角度來看，這個問題很難回答，因為在很多方面，你剛才的問題暗示的是，中國可能正在為幾年後的需求做準備。我們認為，出於我們討論的所有原因，無論是全球經濟的數位化（這種情況正在世界各地發生），這種需求都會存在。因此，我們認為這種需求依然存在。至於你提到的多少需求會被重新構建，有多少需求會被滿足，我認為中國的需求，全球的需求，最終都需要有人來滿足。所以我認為，最終，大部分需求都會被重新建構。唯一可能不會被重新建構的部分是我們已經承認的，而且我認為大多數人也意識到的，那就是在學習曲線上升的過程中，短期內可能會出現一些超支，因為你需要學習、提高收益和提升效率。

But even in the long run, that -- we've seen that play out over every region. And what ends up happening is that turns in, ultimately, to business for our installed base business where we go back years later, and we're making that installed base productive. And so this industry is so efficient, but I don't think there's ever really anything that gets lost, quite honestly. And that's -- but I mean there's a lot of -- there are probably a lot of pieces to your question that require assumptions. But I think that it would cause some disruption, as we've said, in the short term. But in the long term, demand drivers and the need to supply semiconductors and semiconductors' equipment to meet them doesn't fundamentally change in our view.

但即使從長遠來看，我們也看到這種情況在各個地區都發生了。最終的結果是我們現有的設備基礎能夠轉化為實際的業務，多年後，我們將重新利用這些設備，提高它們的生產力。所以這個行業效率很高，但說實話，我認為實際上並沒有什麼東西會真正失去。當然，你的問題可能有很多需要假設的地方。但我認為，正如我們所說，短期內可能會造成一些混亂。但從長遠來看，我們認為需求驅動因素以及供應半導體和半導體設備以滿足這些需求的根本性變化並不會改變。

Yes. And maybe, John, I'd just add a couple of things, the way I think about it. When I look at the revenue in China for us, it's split fairly evenly between the multinational customer base and the local Chinese customer base. So to help you frame it a little bit, that multinational stuff, obviously, was a decision to put in a country that could have gone anywhere, quite honestly. And then as Tim alluded to, a lot of the Chinese customers are relatively new in their process ramps, so maybe they're a little bit inefficient or somewhat inefficient. But at the end of the day, they're building capacity to support long-term demand that somebody else will step into over a period of time. So anyway, hopefully, that's helpful.

是的。約翰，或許我還可以補充幾點，這是我的看法。就我們在中國的收入而言，跨國客戶和中國本土客戶的收入大致相當。為了幫助你更理解，很明顯，我們當初決定在中國開展跨國業務，其實我們本來可以去任何地方。正如蒂姆所提到的，許多中國客戶的流程還在快速推進階段，所以他們的效率可能略低。但歸根結底，他們正在建立產能，以滿足長期需求，而這些需求最終會由其他客戶逐步填補。總之，希望這些資訊對你有幫助。

Very helpful.

很有幫助。

Thanks, John.

謝謝你，約翰。

And we'll go ahead and take our next question from Timothy Arcuri with UBS.

接下來，我們將接受瑞銀集團的提摩西·阿庫瑞所提出的問題。

I had 2. I guess the first one, Doug, is on service. And I guess the question is how much, if any, inventory stocking of spares do you think is going on. I know you try to put controls around that, but it seems pretty clear how much service has taken off for the past 6 months that maybe that is actually happening. You've been pretty clear that you can't run the tool if you don't get the spares, so it wouldn't make any sense to pull the tool in. But we have heard that there is some communal stocking happening in China for parts and whatnot. So can you speak to how much of a factor that is? And do you actually see that happening?

我有兩個。我猜第一個，Doug，正在維修。我想問的是，您認為備件庫存有多少？如果有的話。我知道您試圖對此進行控制，但過去六個月維修量激增，這似乎表明這種情況可能確實存在。您已經明確表示，如果沒有備件，工具就無法運行，所以把工具送回來沒有任何意義。但我們聽說中國那邊有一些零件之類的集中庫存。您能談談這有多大影響嗎？您實際看到這種情況嗎？

Yes, Tim, it's hard to know, to be perfectly honest. One thing I looked at, in anticipation of this question coming up, is from the beginning of the quarter to the end of the quarter, did any customer meaningfully increase their spares orders with us in China. And the answer to that was no, not really. That doesn't mean that maybe they weren't planning to stock a little bit ahead. It would be pretty hard at times to know. But I don't see a big stocking going on in China for spares as maybe the way I'd summarize that. I don't know, Tim, if you think any differently about that.

是的，提姆，說實話，這很難說。為了避免這個問題，我特意查看了一下，從季度初到季度末，是否有中國客戶顯著增加了備件訂單。答案是沒有，確實沒有。但這並不意味著他們沒有提前備貨的計劃。有時候很難確定。但就我而言，我並沒有看到中國客戶大量囤積備件的情況。提姆，我不知道你對此有何不同看法。

No, I think that's fair. I mean, obviously, just as you see, even sometimes in our own numbers, is you're building for growth. I mean there's no doubt the inventories themselves, the number of parts that have to be stocked and maybe what we call the safety stock levels, I mean those may rise. I mean when you're -- in the early days of a manufacturing fab, you're not as concerned about like the time to get another part shipped in. But as you really start, as I said, working towards efficient mass production, you do that. So I think we have seen -- clearly, we have seen that shipments have increased. But whether they're increasing more than the growth plans of those customers is a little bit more hard to say. And I'd say just across the board, there's a little bit of a -- everybody is focused on business resilience. But as we talk about things that may be structural, I think for quite a long time, maybe people are going to be looking at what do I have to do to ensure my business can run. And so I don't think those -- you see those immediately like turned on and off.

不，我認為這很合理。我的意思是，很顯然，正如你所看到的，甚至有時從我們自己的數據來看，我們都在為成長做準備。毫無疑問，庫存本身，需要儲備的零件數量，以及我們所說的安全庫存水平，這些都可能會增加。我的意思是，在製造工廠的早期階段，你不會那麼擔心零件的到貨時間。但正如我所說，當你真正開始致力於高效的大規模生產時，你就會考慮這個問題。所以我認為我們已經看到——很明顯，我們已經看到出貨量增加了。但出貨量的成長是否超過了客戶的成長計劃，就很難說了。而且我認為，整體而言，每個人都在關注業務的韌性。但當我們談到一些可能具有結構性的問題時，我認為在相當長的時間內，人們可能會思考我必須做些什麼才能確保我的業務能夠繼續運作。所以我覺得那些——你不會立刻看到它們像開關一樣被打開和關閉。

Got it. And then, Doug, I guess a follow-up just on the balance sheet. You did start the repo back up, $450 million is definitely a respectable number, but you still have $7 billion in cash. And I think in the past, you said maybe you made $4 billion, that's kind of the optimal cash. So you definitely have a lot of excess cash. So maybe can you update us there on your thoughts on what you're thinking with the excess cash. I think it seems a little harder that you'd be able to do M&A and semis to get some regions to improve that. So can you just talk to the excess cash levels, Doug?

明白了。然後，Doug，我想就資產負債表再問一個後續問題。你們確實重新啟動了回購業務，4.5億美元的確是個相當可觀的數字，但你們仍然擁有70億美元的現金。我記得你之前說過，40億美元算是比較理想的現金儲備。所以你們確實有很多盈餘現金。那麼，你能跟我們說說你對這部分盈餘現金的規劃嗎？我覺得你們很難透過併購和收購來改善某些地區的財務狀況。所以，Doug，你能談談你們的盈餘現金水準嗎？

Yes, Tim, I specifically reiterated the 75% to 100% return to free cash flow as the company's plans, objective. I don't know, think of it. However, that's what we're planning to do. Now over the last couple of years, we've done more than that. We've done more than 100%. And your observation is right. We probably have a little more cash than we need sitting on the balance sheet right now. We'll be looking at that periodically over time. But I don't have anything new to tell you right now relative to any change in our plans or thinking.

是的，提姆，我特意重申了公司計畫的目標，自由現金流回報率要達到75%到100%。你可以想想，這確實是我們計畫要做的事。過去幾年，我們做得比這更多，超過了100%。你的觀察是對的，我們目前的資產負債表上的現金可能略微超過了實際所需。我們會定期對此進行評估。但就我們目前的計劃或想法而言，我暫時沒有什麼新的消息要告訴你。

And we'll go ahead and take our next question from Krish Sankar with Cowen and Company.

接下來，我們將接受來自 Cowen and Company 的 Krish Sankar 的提問。

I have 2 of them. First one's for Tim. On the NAND side, when your customers go from 96 to 128 layers, as you move organically, the etch times went up, and which is a big positive for Lam. But going beyond 128 layers, if customers start stacking layers, is there a slight negative? What I'm trying to figure out is, is stacking neutral or negative for dep and etch intensity, and then I have a follow-up.

我有兩個問題。第一個是給Tim的。關於NAND快閃記憶體，當客戶從96層增加到128層時，隨著製程的推進，蝕刻時間會增加，這對Lam來說是個很大的優勢。但是，如果超過128層，客戶開始堆疊多層，會不會略有負面影響？我想弄清楚的是，堆疊對深度和蝕刻強度是中性還是負面，之後我還有後續問題。

I mean the simple answer is no, SAM still grows under every scheme to build more layers. It translates into different parts -- again, I've talked about this where you kind of pick your battle whether you're trying to build ever taller stacks in one shot or you're trying to build efficient stacking. But simple answer is etch and dep intensity rises in either case, just perhaps split differently with different applications.

我的意思是，簡單來說，答案是否定的，無論採用哪種方案來建立更多層，SAM 仍然會成長。這體現在不同的方面——我之前也說過，你需要權衡利弊，是嘗試一次建造更高的堆疊層，還是嘗試建立高效的堆疊層。但簡單來說，無論哪種情況，蝕刻和沈積強度都會增加，只是在不同的應用場景下，增加的程度可能有所不同。

All right. And then a follow-up for Doug. Would you be willing to share how much of your service of CSBG revenues is from domestic China or overall China?

好的。接下來我想問Doug一個問題。您能否透露一下，您提供的CSBG服務收入中，有多少來自中國國內市場，又有多少來自整個中國市場？

I don't know that I'm willing to share it, Krish, because off the top of my head, I'm not sure I know what the number is. The way to think about it over time is consistent with equipment shipment with a lag, right? And the way we've generally been talking about the business for us from a system standpoint in China is it's been pretty evenly split between multinational customers and local China. And over time, the CSBG business kind of would get caught up to a similar footprint, if you will, maybe not immediately. But Krish, that's just off-the-cuff reaction to the question.

克里什，我不太願意透露具體數字，因為我一時也想不起來。從長遠來看，這和設備出貨量滯後的情況類似，對吧？就我們在中國的業務而言，從系統角度來看，跨國客戶和中國本土客戶的比例一直相當均衡。隨著時間的推移，CSBG的業務規模最終也會達到類似的水平，雖然可能不會立即實現。不過，克里什，這只是我對這個問題的即興回答。

And we'll go ahead and take our next question from Vivek Arya with Bank of America.

接下來，我們將接受來自美國銀行的維韋克·阿亞所提出的問題。

I was hoping if you could give us some directional view on the China versus non-China and the foundry logic versus memory mix for the December quarter guidance.

我希望您能就中國市場與非中國市場以及晶圓代工邏輯晶片與記憶體晶片的組合，為我們提供一些方向性見解，以便我們更好地了解 12 月季度的業績指引。

You're asking, Vivek, about December specifically?

維韋克，你問的是具體十二月的情況嗎？

That's right. Just directionally, how do you see those mix things trending in December.

沒錯。就趨勢走向而言，你覺得這些混音產品在12月會如何發展？

Yes. I think China is going to remain strong in December is how I view it right now as we sit here today. And I think the broad-based set of customers in China that I tried to describe will continue to be what it looks like.

是的。就目前來看，我認為中國經濟在12月仍將保持強勁勢頭。而且，我認為我之前描述的中國龐大的客戶群仍將保持目前的態勢。

And on the foundry logic versus memory mix?

那麼，關於代工邏輯電路與記憶體的組合呢？

Well, the large China foundry customer likely isn't going to get much from us, if anything, unless we get a license in December. So that will probably trend down a little bit in December.

嗯，除非我們在12月拿到授權，否則那家中國大型晶圓代工客戶可能從我們這裡拿不到多少東西，甚至可能一無所獲。所以12月訂單量可能會稍微下降。

Got it. And as my follow-up, I wanted to revisit this DRAM question. I understand DRAM sales are still below their peaks, but they are still back to the levels you had in the second half '18. How are you thinking about your DRAM growth over the next several quarters. What are the signs that you're looking for to say that now we are at a trough and now we can get back to some normalized trend?

明白了。作為後續問題，我想再次探討DRAM的問題。我知道DRAM的銷售量仍然低於峰值，但已經恢復到2018年下半年的水平。您如何看待未來幾季DRAM的成長？您會關注哪些跡象來判斷我們已經觸底反彈，可以恢復到正常的成長趨勢？

I mean, Vivek, what we look at is we run our own models of bit supply growth and do our best to try to understand inventory that's out there, what the customers are holding, what the customers' customers are holding, what's going on with pricing, what's going on with profitability. And as we look at all of those things, our view is, right now, the investment levels that are occurring in DRAM are generating supply growth below long-term demand growth. And at some point, that will need to get itself caught up, and we think it's sometime in 2021. It sets up to be a pretty decent year for DRAM in 2021 is as much as I can tell you right now. I don't know, Tim, do you want to add anything?

我的意思是，Vivek，我們關注的是運行我們自己的位供應增長模型，並盡力了解現有庫存情況，包括客戶持有的庫存、客戶的客戶持有的庫存、價格走勢以及盈利能力。綜合考慮所有這些因素，我們認為，目前DRAM領域的投資水準導致供應成長低於長期需求成長。這種情況遲早會得到改善，我們認為會在2021年的某個時候出現。就目前而言，我只能告訴你，2021年DRAM市場前景相當不錯。 Tim，你還有什麼要補充的嗎？

No. I think also just you referred back to, like, 2018, and I think that, again, for us, we look and there are, across all semiconductor segments, I mean, significantly greater drivers and broadening of drivers that we're seeing today. And we pointed out a couple of those on previous calls but -- just given the difference in DRAM content in the high-end smartphones and the dramatic jump that takes from -- into the 5G phones. And then, of course, we talk about the build-out of data centers and everything else, it's just -- there's a demand element to it. There's a supply element. And I think we just see it as a positive into 2021.

不。我想您剛才也提到了2018年，我認為，就我們而言，我們觀察發現，在所有半導體領域，都存在著比現在更強勁且更廣泛的驅動因素。我們在之前的電話會議中也提到過其中一些，但考慮到高階智慧型手機中DRAM含量的差異，以及從高階智慧型手機到5G手機的巨大飛躍，當然還有數據中心的建設等等，這其中既有需求因素，也有供應因素。我認為，這對2021年來說是一個正面的訊號。

And we'll go ahead and take our next question from Toshiya Hari with Goldman Sachs.

接下來，我們將回答來自高盛的 Toshiya Hari 提出的問題。

Congrats on the strong results. I had 2 as well. First one, I guess, is very much a follow-up to the last question on DRAM and NAND supply growth exiting the year. Doug, you just talked about your internal model. Your intel suggesting that the supply growth exiting the year is below the long-term trend line as you see it. Is there any way you can give kind of quantitative color around that? For DRAM, are you looking at kind of 15% to 20%-ish supply growth exiting the year? And NAND, is it kind of around 30 or below 30%? And I guess related to that, you talked about your expectations for DRAM into 2021 being positive, any directional guidance you can give on the NAND side?

恭喜取得如此佳績。我也有兩個問題。第一個問題，我想，很大程度上是對您上次關於DRAM和NAND快閃記憶體年底供應成長問題的後續。 Doug，您剛剛談到了您的內部模型。您的情報顯示，年底的供應成長低於您認為的長期趨勢線。您能否就此給出一些量化數據？ DRAM方面，您預計年底的供應成長在15%到20%左右嗎？ NAND方面，是在30%左右還是低於30%？另外，您提到您對2021年DRAM的預期是正面的，那麼您對NAND方面有什麼方向性的預測嗎？

Yes, Toshiya, those numbers you referenced probably are fairly consistent with what I think is the consensus view as well as our own models. So I don't have anything incremental to add there. Your second question, sorry, ask it again.

是的，Toshiya，你提到的那些數字與我認為的普遍共識以及我們自己的模型基本一致。所以我沒有什麼新的補充。至於你的第二個問題，不好意思，請再問一次。

Yes, directional guidance on NAND into 2021, if any.

是的，關於 2021 年 NAND 的發展方向，如果有的話。

In my view, NAND is pretty decent right now. And I think it will be pretty decent next year. Again, based on our view of the industry, inventory, investment plans, I think it will be a pretty decent year for '21 next year. We're not going to give you numbers on '21 yet. We'll do that in next quarter's earnings. But I think it sets up pretty well.

在我看來，NAND快閃記憶體目前表現相當不錯。而且我認為明年也會相當不錯。同樣，基於我們對產業、庫存和投資計畫的判斷，我認為2021年將會是相當不錯的一年。我們暫時不會公佈2021年的具體數據，會在下個季度的財報中公佈。但我認為前景一片光明。

Got it. And then a quick follow-up. In terms of market share, you guys talked about 4 to 8 percentage points of share growth as kind of your 2023 target at your Analyst Day. If I take the midpoint of your December quarter guidance and make assumptions around your CSBG business, I think your systems business is going to be up close to 25-ish percent in calendar '20, so you're clearly gaining share. What's sort of the outlook into next year based on wins that you have already, both on the memory side and logic and foundry side? Do you think you can sustain this level of share growth momentum? Or could that accelerate? Could that slow down a little bit? Any color would be great.

明白了。還有一個後續問題。關於市場份額，你們在分析師日上提到，2023 年的目標是實現 4% 到 8% 的市佔率成長。如果我採用你們去年 12 月季度業績指引的中位數，並根據你們的 CSBG 業務做出一些假設，我認為你們的系統業務在 2020 年的增長率將接近 25%，所以你們的市場份額顯然在增長。基於你們目前在記憶體、邏輯晶片和代工方面的進展，你們對明年的前景有何展望？你們認為能夠維持目前的市佔率成長勢頭嗎？或者成長速度會加快？還是會稍稍放緩？任何觀點都非常感謝。

Well, we're certainly going to try. And I think that our business -- we've described this in many ways, every quarter, we come in and we talk about wins and new applications. And I know it kind of starts to sound like we're a broken record. But the reality is it takes a couple of years for those wins to start to translate into the numbers that you're starting to see now. And so if you go back and you kind of look at the old transcripts, you'll see us talking about pretty significant momentum that started really in the 2019 time frame. And it's been building through 2020, and that's what you're going to start seeing, I think, play out as those wins at those future nodes start to roll in through high-volume manufacturing.

當然，我們會盡力而為。我認為，我們的業務——我們已經用多種方式描述過，每個季度我們都會談到取得的成功和新的應用。我知道這聽起來有點像是老生常談。但現實是，這些成功需要幾年時間才能轉化為你現在看到的這些數字。所以，如果你回顧一下之前的會議記錄，你會發現我們談到了2019年左右開始的顯著成長動能。這種勢頭在2020年持續增強，我認為，隨著未來節點的成功案例透過大規模生產陸續落地，你將會開始看到這種成長動能的顯現。

I'd make the same caution we're extremely happy with Sense.i momentum right now as it's winning sort of those slots and sockets in future nodes. But I know that the timing for those to then become the main driver of revenue and market share growth won't be until those nodes that are in development now and moving into pilot become high-volume nodes. But that's -- so I would say that we look back 2 years to our progress, and that's kind of what we're starting to see. And we look at wins we're making now, and that's our pipeline to hit the 2023, 2024 objectives. And I think we -- as we said, we feel we're on track and almost couldn't feel better about the strength of the product portfolio and the pipeline right now.

我還是要提醒大家，我們對Sense.i目前的發展動能非常滿意，因為它正在贏得未來節點的一些插槽和介面。但我知道，要讓這些節點真正成為營收和市佔率成長的主要驅動力，還需要那些目前正在開發並進入試點階段的節點成為量產節點。所以，我想說的是，回顧過去兩年的進展，我們就能大致看到這一點。同時，我們也關注現在所取得的成果，以及我們實現2023年和2024年目標的計畫。正如我們所說，我們感覺一切都在按計劃進行，並對目前的產品組合和計劃的實力感到非常滿意。

And we'll go ahead and take our next question from Joe Moore with Morgan Stanley.

接下來，我們將接受摩根士丹利的喬·摩爾提出的問題。

I wonder if we could get some additional color on the restrictions in China. When exactly did they kind of go into place. And just so I understand for my edification if it happens again, what happens to product that's being installed on-site to product that's shipped on the way there? That stuff that's in backlog, are you still able to ship against that?

我想了解中國方面的限制措施，能否提供更多資訊？這些限制措施具體是什麼時候開始生效的？另外，為了確保我理解，如果再次發生類似情況，那些正在現場安裝的產品以及正在運送到現場的產品會受到什麼影響？那些積壓的訂單，你們還能準時出貨嗎？

Maybe I'll make a couple of comments, and then Tim, you can add on.

我可能會說幾句，然後提姆，你可以補充。

Sure.

當然。

I mean the incremental item that came out was really an application of a rule that was previously out there around military end use. That basically said, if you're enabling that, and one of our customers is, you need a license. And so what ended up happening is, I guess, guidance, if you will, from the Department of Commerce that you need the license to ship to at least 1 customer, the foundry customer in China. I mean that's really the only thing that was new, Joe. And so we're applying for license is basically what's going on. I don't know how long it's going to take find out whether those license will be granted or won't. We're kind of in sort of uncharted territory, and we're waiting to see how it plays out. So timing, I don't know that I can help you much with.

我的意思是，這次出台的新規定其實是對先前關於軍用最終用途的規定的應用。這項規定基本上是說，如果你要進行軍用最終用途的採購（而我們的客戶之一就是軍用最終用途採購），你就需要許可證。所以最終的結果，我猜想，商務部發布了一項指導意見，要求你必須獲得許可證才能向至少一位客戶（即中國的代工廠客戶）發貨。我的意思是，這實際上是唯一的新內容，喬。所以我們目前正在申請許可證。我不知道需要多久才能知道許可證是否會被批准。我們現在有點像是在探索未知領域，只能等待結果。所以，關於時間安排，我恐怕幫不上忙。

Okay. And then in terms of the backlog and anything that might be assembled on site.

好的。然後是關於積壓的工作以及任何可能需要在現場組裝的東西。

Generally speaking, when these rules come out, you get a little bit of a lead time, so you can adjust whatever is, like, in the very near term, going on. But it's hard to know, quite honestly. So at this point, we are complying with all regulations that are out there relative to this one customer, which means we're derating the shipment plan for the December quarter to disclose what's going on until we know more.

一般來說，這些規定出台後會有一些緩衝時間，以便我們調整近期的一些安排。但說實話，很難預測具體情況。所以目前，我們正在遵守所有針對這位客戶的現行規定，這意味著我們將下調12月份季度的發貨計劃，以便在了解更多信息之前向公眾披露情況。

And we'll go ahead and take our next question from Blayne Curtis with Barclays Capital.

接下來，我們將接受來自巴克萊資本的布萊恩柯蒂斯的提問。

Just would love a little more color on just the trailing edge strength, how much of a trigger that was. Obviously, we've heard about tightness and clearly seeing a rebound, but a lot of these end markets are kind of still down a bit. Just your perspective is the different mix, particularly in markets with higher content and kind of just perspective, is this just a little bit of a catch-up or is it a more sustainable trend.

我只是想更詳細地了解後緣的強度，以及它究竟起到了多大的作用。顯然，我們已經聽到了市場趨緊的消息，也看到了明顯的反彈，但許多終端市場仍然略有下滑。從您的角度來看，尤其是在高含量市場中，這種反彈究竟只是暫時的追趕，還是一個更永續的趨勢？

No. I think this -- I mean, at least from our view, I mean, I mentioned it was another record quarter for our business group that satisfies that demand. We've just seen tightness in this market and kind of a broadening of activities quarter by quarter by quarter. And if you go back and look, we've reported record quarters now for quite a number of -- so I think it's just tightness. It's difficult. In fact, we just had -- very strangely, but a new product release where we talked about releasing a product now for 200-millimeter photoresist strip. And so I think you can kind of get a sense from that where we're going back and basically refreshing 200-millimeter products that the demand is out there, and it cannot be solved or served just by refurbishment of the existing base. The requirement is actually expanding beyond that.

不。我認為——至少從我們的角度來看，正如我之前提到的，我們業務部門又迎來了一個創紀錄的季度，滿足了市場需求。我們看到市場供應緊張，業務活動也逐季擴展。如果你回顧一下，我們會發現我們已經連續多個季度創下業績紀錄——所以我認為這只是供應緊張的問題。情況很棘手。事實上，我們剛剛發布了一款新產品——非常奇怪，我們談到了即將推出一款適用於200毫米光阻條的產品。所以我認為你可以從中感受到，我們正在重新審視並更新200毫米的產品，這表明市場需求依然存在，而僅僅透過翻新現有產品無法滿足這一需求。實際上，需求正在不斷擴大。

Yes, Blayne, I mean, I know you know this market really well. I kind of think of the analogy IoT edge kind of devices that are out there, you know what's going on there. I mean that's really what's going on with this part of our business as well. Back at our Investor Day in March, we suggested that we think WFE in this space quickly grow 2 to 3x faster than WFE broadly. And that's what's going on.

是的，布萊恩，我知道你對這個市場非常了解。我常常會想到物聯網邊緣設備，你知道現在市面上有許多這類設備，而我們這部分業務的發展趨勢也與之類似。早在三月的投資人日上，我們就指出，我們認為這個領域的WFE（無線前端設備）成長速度會比WFE整體成長速度快2到3倍。而事實也正是如此。

Got you. And then maybe as a follow-up, you mentioned that WFE would grow next year. You're not giving the specific guidance. You mentioned memory, yet I didn't hear you say foundry. So I guess I'm just curious, obviously, you don't know what's going to go on with SMIC and licenses in China in general but just kind of curious, with the strength of the trailing edge, is foundry going to be up next year as well, kind of ex the exogenous factors there?

明白了。然後，作為後續問題，您提到WFE明年會成長。但您沒有給出具體預測。您提到了內存，但我沒聽到您提到晶圓代工。所以我想問的是，顯然您不知道中芯國際和中國地區的授權情況會如何，但我只是好奇，考慮到後發晶片的強勁勢頭，晶圓代工明年是否也會增長，排除一些外部因素的影響？

Yes, Blayne, our normal practice at this point in the year is not to give specific numeric, here's what next year looks like, we'll do that a quarter from now. We're giving you a little bit of color that we think it's going to be a good year next year, but it's too soon for us to quantify. We just -- our practice is to wait until the December quarter earnings to give you that. And we will give it to you then.

是的，布萊恩，我們通常的做法是，在每年的這個時候，不會給出具體的數字預測，例如明年會怎樣，我們會在一個季度後公佈。我們現在可以透露一些訊息，我們認為明年會是不錯的一年，但現在量化還為時過早。我們的慣例是等到12月份的季度財報發布後再公佈。到那時，我們會告訴你們的。

And we'll go ahead and take our next question from Atif Malik with Citi.

接下來，我們將接受花旗銀行的阿提夫馬利克提出的問題。

Doug, you have talked about a $10 billion domestic China WFE number in the past. Is that still the right number within that mid-50s WFE for the market?

道格，你之前提到中國國內WFE市場規模為100億美元。在WFE市場規模達到5000萬美元左右的情況下，這個數字現在還準確嗎？

Yes. Our view is still mid, high 50s from a WFE standpoint; and China, roughly $10 billion, plus or minus a little bit. We're 3 quarters of the way through the year. So if the one customer that everybody is thinking about right now isn't able to spend in the fourth quarter, we're still in that range.

是的。從WFE（全球消費電子市場）的角度來看，我們仍然預期銷售額在500億美元中後期；而中國市場，大約在100億美元左右，上下略有浮動。今年已經過去四分之三了。所以，即使目前大家最關注的客戶在第四季無法消費，我們的預期仍然在這個範圍內。

Okay. And a follow-up, has the backlog normalized due to COVID-19 impact in the March quarter and now fully reflected in your Q4 revenue guide or you still have some carryover?

好的。還有一個後續問題，受新冠疫情影響，三月季度的積壓訂單是否已經恢復正常，並已完全反映在你們的第四季度營收預期中，還是仍然存在一些結轉訂單？

No, Atif, we're pretty much caught up at this point.

不，阿提夫，我們現在基本上已經趕上了。

We'll go ahead and take our next question from Sidney Ho with Deutsche Bank.

接下來，我們將接受來自德意志銀行的 Sidney Ho 的提問。

My first question is, going back to China, given the strength you've seen last quarter, are there any risk of customers pulling in purchases? I think you addressed the spare parts side earlier. But the question is not just from the one foundry customer but also maybe other customers on the memory side as well.

我的第一個問題是，回到中國市場，鑑於上個季度強勁的銷售勢頭，客戶是否有減少採購的風險？我想您之前已經談到了備件方面的問題。但這個問題不僅來自那家代工廠客戶，也可能來自其他記憶體客戶。

Well, I guess you addressed it as is there a risk. Do you mean backward-looking risk in the September, the risk -- that pull-ins occurred? I think Doug kind of answered that, which is we really haven't seen or felt anything that feels out of the ordinary relative to the growth plans of these customers. Going forward, I think, again, in many ways, you see us guiding to yet another record for the company. And I don't think that we'll be -- I don't think that any of that right now factors in what we would, again, think is abnormal pull-in activity.

嗯，我想您剛才問的是是否有風險。您指的是9月的回顧性風險，也就是客戶撤回的風險嗎？我覺得Doug已經回答了這個問題，那就是我們目前還沒有看到或感覺到任何與這些客戶的成長計畫不符的異常情況。展望未來，我認為，在許多方面，我們有望再次刷新公司業績紀錄。而且我認為，目前來看，這些因素都不會影響到我們認為的異常客戶撤回活動。

Okay. I think you guys were talking about spare parts earlier, but I guess the system -- new system sales...

好的。我想你們之前是在討論備件，但我想現在討論的是系統——新系統銷售…

Sorry. I mean, no, we're -- I think the question maybe was about spare parts, but it's really more of -- I think it's a broader statement.

抱歉。我的意思是，不，我們——我想這個問題可能是關於備件的，但實際上更像是——我認為這是一個更廣泛的聲明。

Yes. I agree.

是的，我同意。

Okay. Maybe my follow-up question is on Intel. I think last quarter, you guys pretty much said that there's no impact. It doesn't matter who makes the chips. But on the memory side, now that Intel sold their NAND business to Hynix, given that they have very different architecture, do you think they will be a net impact for you guys going forward?

好的。我的後續問題可能與英特爾有關。我記得上個季度你們說過，晶片的製造商是誰並不重要，不會產生任何影響。但是就記憶體方面而言，既然英特爾已經將NAND業務出售給了海力士，考慮到它們的架構截然不同，你們認為這會對你們未來的業務產生淨影響嗎？

Well, hard to know. That's a pretty recent announcement, and it would be a little bit speculation. I mean, Sidney, long term, the way I think about this is, at the end of the day, demand is what matters, right? Our customers are putting wafer capacity in place to supply demand. And things can get pulled in, pushed out a little bit on the margin. But at the end of the day, when I think about where I think the industry heads, supply and demand have to be in relative equilibrium over the medium or longer term. And whether that means we have 5 customers in NAND or 3, it largely doesn't matter. They're going to invest to satisfy demand in my mind.

嗯，很難說。這是最近才發布的消息，現在下結論還有些猜測的成分。我的意思是，西德尼，從長遠來看，我的想法是，歸根結底，需求是關鍵，對吧？我們的客戶正在部署晶圓產能來滿足需求。產能可能會受到一些影響，例如在一定範圍內有所調整。但最終，我認為，從中長期來看，供需必須保持相對平衡。至於我們有多少NAND客戶（5個還是3個），其實並不重要。在我看來，他們最終都會投資來滿足需求。

Yes. And the focal question was is it all targeted towards, like, strength. I mean we basically have talked, I think, in the past, we're strong across all flavors of 3D NAND.

是的。而核心問題是，這一切是否都旨在增強實力。我的意思是，我們過去基本上已經討論過，我們在所有類型的3D NAND方面都很強大。

We'll go ahead and take our next question from Joe Quatrochi with Wells Fargo.

接下來，我們將回答來自富國銀行的喬·夸特羅奇提出的問題。

On the NAND side, I was curious, within your bit supply growth model or expectations, how do you think about the growth from node transitions or technology transitions in terms of -- if bit demand is closer to 30% next year versus kind of a long-term of high 30%, do you think the installed base needs to grow to support that?

關於 NAND 快閃記憶體方面，我很好奇，在您的位元供應成長模型或預期中，您如何看待節點過渡或技術過渡帶來的成長？例如，如果明年的位元需求接近 30%，而不是長期維持在 30% 以上，您認為安裝基礎是否需要成長才能支援這種成長？

In any given year, Joe, when we look at it, there's always a blend of both. It's always in the best interest of the customer to do the node conversions first because it's a very cost-effective way to do it. And then generally, that means you lose wafer capacity and it needs to get topped up a little bit. In any one year the mix is different, one year to the next, but it's always a blend.

喬，就每年的情況來看，這兩種情況總是兼具。對客戶而言，首先進行節點轉換始終是最有利的，因為這是一種非常經濟高效的方式。通常情況下，這意味著晶圓產能會下降，需要一些補充。每年的具體情況可能有所不同，但始終是兩者兼而有之。

Okay. That's helpful. And then just -- I thought your comments in the prepared remarks around support engagements being remote, that was interesting, obviously, with COVID. And so I was curious, how do you see that trending over the next few years? And maybe what percentage of engagements are remote now? And maybe how do we think about the cost savings potential there?

好的，這很有幫助。另外，我覺得您在準備好的演講稿中提到的遠距支援工作很有意思，尤其是在新冠疫情的影響下。所以我很好奇，您認為未來幾年這種趨勢會如何發展？目前遠距支援工作的比例是多少？我們又該如何看待遠距支援工作在成本節約方面的潛力呢？

Yes. It's -- well, I guess what I would say is we featured the Equipment Intelligence solutions. Imagine if we're launching Sense.i designed around Equipment Intelligence, we started that activity long before COVID was ever even something we could imagine. So we feel very fortunate now that we're driving that aggressively. And it really is designed to do things that remove the need for people to be physically located at the tool in order to troubleshoot and repair the tools. And so we have seen, I mentioned, a 6x increase in remote support engagements year-over-year.

是的。嗯，我想說的是，我們重點介紹了設備智慧解決方案。想像一下，我們推出的Sense.i就是圍繞設備智慧設計的，而我們早在新冠疫情爆發之前就開始了這項工作。所以我們現在能夠積極推進這項業務，感到非常幸運。它的設計初衷就是為了讓使用者無需親臨現場即可進行故障排除和維修。正如我之前提到的，我們看到遠端支援服務量年增了6倍。

A lot of that is because our engagement with customers, there's kind of like many other choices at this point to bring the kind of expertise you need to the tool and I think that what -- just as we're seeing with work from home. And I think a lot of that will remain structural. It is -- it does save money for the customers by allowing us to repair the tools and get them back into production more quickly. And it saves money for Lam because we don't have to deploy as many people flying all over the world trying to service these tools. So I think a lot of that, I hope and I believe, will be structural and long-lasting.

很大程度上是因為我們與客戶的互動方式，目前有很多其他選擇可以為工具提供所需的專業知識，我認為這就像我們現在看到的居家辦公室一樣。而且我認為很多方面都會保持結構性。這確實能為客戶節省成本，因為我們可以更快地維修工具並使其恢復生產。同時，這也為Lam節省了成本，因為我們不必派遣那麼多人飛遍世界各地來維修這些工具。所以我認為，我希望並相信，很多方面都會保持結構性且長期有效。

We'll go ahead and take our last question from Weston Twigg with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

接下來，我們將回答來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Weston Twigg 的最後一個問題。

Quick 2 questions. First, advanced packaging, you talked about it in the opening remarks. Can you help quantify what that is as a percent of systems revenue or sort of how relevant it is to the overall top line?

兩個問題快問快答。首先，關於先進封裝技術，您在開場白中提到了。能否量化一下它佔系統收入的百分比，或者說它對整體營收的相關性？

Wes, right now, it's small but with nice growth trajectory, and we're excited about what the future looks like. It's not huge right now. But when you listen to the industry and our customers talk about it over time, it's clearly part of their road map to drive Moore's Law forward. So we're excited about it. It's not huge now. We hope it will be over time.

韋斯，目前它規模還小，但成長勢頭良好，我們對它的未來充滿信心。它現在規模還不大。但隨著時間的推移，當你傾聽業內人士和我們客戶的討論時，你會發現它顯然是推動摩爾定律發展藍圖的一部分。所以我們對它充滿期待。它現在規模還不大，但我們希望它未來能夠成長。

I think, though, it also is -- Wes, maybe -- you've been around a long time, so you recognize the SABRE main point. And the point there is, in many cases, these are -- I mentioned this is about leveraging a lot of the expertise we've already built for other applications into new areas where we can gain high share. And it doesn't require, in those cases, for those markets, to be quite so big to have -- start to have an impact. So SABRE 3D, very, very strong position, very long track record, a lot of that R&D already kind of being done for larger markets; Syndion, same thing, in terms of very high and very strong market position. And then, as Doug pointed out, what we're really trying to say we have those positions, and we actually see the market coming to us as more of these integration schemes continue to go 3D. So we've highlighted it just as it's one other example of 3D helping drive incremental growth for the company.

不過，我想，韋斯，或許你也是──你在這個產業待了很久，所以你肯定了解SABRE的核心理念。關鍵在於，在許多情況下——我之前提到過，這關乎如何將我們已在其他應用領域積累的大量專業知識運用到新的領域，從而獲得更高的市場份額。而且，在這些情況下，這些市場並不需要非常龐大才能產生影響力。所以，SABRE 3D擁有非常強大的市場地位和悠久的歷史，許多研發工作都是針對更大的市場進行的；Syndion也是如此，擁有非常高且強大的市場地位。正如道格指出的那樣，我們真正想表達的是，我們擁有這些優勢，而且隨著越來越多的整合方案向3D方向發展，我們看到市場正在向我們靠攏。所以我們強調這一點，是因為這是3D技術幫助公司實現增量成長的另一個例子。

I see. Okay. That makes a lot of sense. And then the other question I had was just the U.S., it was remarkably low in terms of revenue contribution last quarter. I was wondering if you could offer any commentary on that, if that's a trend that you see or it's just an abnormally low quarter.

我明白了。好的。這很有道理。我還有一個問題，就是美國市場上季的營收貢獻非常低。我想知道您對此有何看法，這是否是一種趨勢，還是只是一個異常低的季度？

There's not a lot of fabs in the U.S. taking equipment. I mean that's what's going on. And this is a shifting statement. And most of our customers' fabs are outside the United States, Wes, you know that.

美國很少有晶圓廠接收我們的設備。我的意思是，這就是現狀。而且這種情況正在改變。韋斯，你知道的，我們的大多數客戶的晶圓廠都在美國境外。

Yes. I guess it had dropped a lot quarter-over-quarter as well. So it seems like the investment is declining. And I don't know if that's a sustainable trend and whether they could be, but that's the commentary I was looking for.

是的。我猜想它環比下降幅度也很大。所以看起來投資正在減少。我不知道這是否是一個可持續的趨勢，也不知道他們是否能夠持續下去，但這正是我想要的評論。

No. It's just -- you know how this works. Equipment can be lumpy to any one fab that come one quarter and then it needs to ramp. And it's lumpiness. But you know the fabs that are in the U.S., and that's what's going on. It's just timing.

不，就是這樣──你知道這行的運作方式。對於任何一家晶圓廠來說，設備都可能出現波動，例如一個季度剛開始生產，然後需要逐步提升產能。這就是波動性。但你知道美國那些晶圓廠的情況，這就是現狀。這只是時間問題。

And that does conclude today's question-and-answer session. I'd like to turn the call back over to today's speakers for any additional or closing remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。現在我想把電話線交還給今天的演講嘉賓，請他們補充或作總結發言。

No more closing remarks. Thank you, everyone, for joining today. We appreciate it.

沒有其他總結發言了。感謝各位今天的參與，我們非常感激。

Once again, this does conclude today's conference. We do appreciate your participation. You may now disconnect your phone lines.

今天的會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與。現在您可以掛斷電話了。