科林研發 (LRCX) 2018 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Lam Research Corporation December 2017 Conference Call. At this time, I'd like to turn the conference over to Satya Kumar, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

大家好，歡迎參加 Lam Research Corporation 2017 年 12 月電話會議。此時，我謹將會議交給投資人關係副總裁薩蒂亞‧庫馬爾先生。請繼續。

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

是的。謝謝大家，大家下午好。歡迎參加Lam Research季度財報電話會議。今天陪同我的是執行長馬丁·安斯蒂斯，以及執行副總裁兼財務長道格·貝廷格。

During today's call, we will share our outlook on the business environment, review our financial results for the December 2017 quarter and our outlook for the March 2018 quarter. The press release detailing our financial results was distributed a little after 1:00 p.m. Pacific time this afternoon. It 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，我們將分享我們對商業環境的展望，回顧我們 2017 年 12 月季度的財務業績以及我們對 2018 年 3 月季度的展望。詳細介紹我們財務表現的新聞稿於下午1點剛過發布。太平洋時間今天下午。也可以在公司網站的投資者關係部分找到，以及今天電話會議的簡報。

Today's presentation and Q&A includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties reflected in the risk factor disclosures of 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，這些陳述受到風險和不確定性的影響，這些風險和不確定性已反映在我們向美國證券交易委員會提交的公開文件中的風險因素披露中。更多資訊請參閱簡報中的配套幻燈片。

Today's discussion of our financial results will be presented on a non-GAAP financial basis unless otherwise specified. A detailed reconciliation between the 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GAAP財務報表為基礎。今天的盈利新聞稿中提供了 GAAP 和非 GAAP 結果之間的詳細調整表。

This call is scheduled to last until 3:00 p.m. Pacific time, and as always, we ask that you limit your questions to one per firm with a brief follow up, so we can accommodate as many questions as possible. As a reminder, the replay of this call will be available later this afternoon on our website.

本次通話預計持續到下午3點。太平洋時間，像往常一樣，我們要求您每家公司只提一個問題，並附上簡短的後續問題，以便我們可以回答盡可能多的問題。再次提醒大家，本次電話會議的錄音將於今天下午稍晚在我們的網站上提供。

With that, let me hand the call over to Martin.

那麼，我把電話交給馬丁吧。

Thank you, Satya, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. I will now provide an overview of December quarter results, summarize calendar 2017 relative to the multiyear outperformance opportunity for Lam and provide a first outlook for 2018.

謝謝你，薩蒂亞，也謝謝各位今天能來參加我們的節目。接下來，我將概述 12 月季度業績，總結 2017 年日曆年與 Lam 多年超額收益機會的關係，並給出 2018 年的初步展望。

As previously noted, we plan a comprehensive investor and analyst event in a few weeks, and so our prepared comments today are crafted in that context.

如前所述，我們計劃在幾週後舉辦一場全面的投資者和分析師活動，因此我們今天準備的評論也是在此背景下撰寫的。

The December quarter was a strong conclusion to an extraordinary year with record performance for Lam reported in shipments, revenues and non-GAAP EPS. As noted in our earnings release, that positive momentum is expected to continue into calendar '18, with our March quarter guidance indicating midpoint shipments at $3.175 billion and revenues at $2.85 billion, both levels of strategic relevance and levels of business not previously seen in our history.

12 月季度為非凡的一年畫上了圓滿的句號，Lam 公司在出貨量、收入和非 GAAP 每股收益方面均創下歷史新高。正如我們在獲利報告中指出的那樣，這種積極的勢頭預計將延續到 2018 年，我們 3 月份季度的業績指引顯示，出貨量中值為 31.75 億美元，收入中值為 28.5 億美元，這兩個水平都具有重要的戰略意義，也是我們歷史上從未見過的業務水平。

While scaling the company at essentially a 50% pace in calendar '17 was not our expectation 1 year ago, competitive business model flexibility and a commitment from our employees to the success of our customers was everything about how we responded to the incremental opportunities presented. Without the tremendous efforts of the team and the support of our customers and partners globally, these accomplishments would not be possible. It is my privilege to acknowledge this great work and express my personal gratitude. At the same time, it's important to reinforce the prominence of our culture and values and specifically our focus on increasing customer trust and co-dependency through the delivery of enabling technology, productivity and speed now and in the years ahead.

雖然一年前我們並沒有預料到公司會在 2017 年以 50% 的速度擴張，但具有競爭力的商業模式靈活性以及員工對客戶成功的承諾，是我們應對不斷湧現的新機會的關鍵所在。如果沒有團隊的巨大努力以及全球客戶和合作夥伴的支持，這些成就將不可能實現。我很榮幸能夠認可這項偉大的工作，並表達我個人的感激之情。同時，我們必須強調我們的文化和價值觀的重要性，尤其要透過提供賦能技術、提高生產力和速度，來增強客戶信任和相互依賴，無論現在還是將來。

As an established multi-product and services company delivering results on wafer to the semiconductor industry through complex systems engineering innovation, our primary objective is to promote our customer's success through an increased proportion of their spending that we actively compete for and through differentiation to win and sustain more of that business over time. In 2017, our reported shipments were approximately 21% of WFE versus 18.5% in the prior year, and that compares with 14.2% in the first full year after the Lam-Novellus merger in 2013.

作為一家成熟的多產品和服務公司，我們透過複雜的系統工程創新，為半導體行業提供晶圓級解決方案，我們的主要目標是透過積極爭取客戶支出，並透過差異化贏得併長期保持更多業務，從而促進客戶的成功。2017 年，我們報告的出貨量約佔 WFE 的 21%，而前一年為 18.5%，相較之下，2013 年 Lam-Novellus 合併後的第一個完整年度為 14.2%。

Reflecting on 2017, Lam delivered a remarkable 6 consecutive calendar year growth and industry outperformance, a byproduct of high-quality strategies and execution jointly with our customers. Over that period, Lam has grown shipments by a cumulative annual growth rate of 24%, approximately 3x the rate of WFE growth. In 2017, through a commitment to invest more in our future and to sustain the economic success for our customers and suppliers in partnership with Lam, we grew our shipments by approximately 50%, well above WFE growth of 30% and reported record non-GAAP earnings per share of over $13, almost double the prior year.

回顧 2017 年，Lam 實現了連續 6 年的顯著成長，並在業界脫穎而出，這得益於我們與客戶共同製定和執行的高品質策略。在此期間，Lam 的出貨量年均累積成長率達到 24%，約為 WFE 成長率的 3 倍。2017 年，我們致力於加大對未來的投資，並與 Lam 合作，為我們的客戶和供應商帶來持續的經濟成功，我們的出貨量增長了約 50%，遠高於 WFE 30% 的增長，並公佈了創紀錄的非 GAAP 每股收益超過 13 美元，幾乎是前一年的兩倍。

With fundamental industry trends that we believe provide a platform for sustainable semiconductor eco-system investments and growth, we remain focused on making the necessary investments in our company to increase the probability of achieving our long-term vision, and we plan for another expansion in the proportion of WFE that we actively compete for and win in 2018. Said differently, we plan for continued outperformance.

我們相信，當前的行業基本趨勢為可持續的半導體生態系統投資和成長提供了平台，因此我們將繼續專注於對公司進行必要的投資，以提高實現我們長期願景的可能性。我們計劃在 2018 年進一步擴大我們積極競爭並贏得的 WFE 份額。換句話說，我們計劃繼續取得優異的業績。

2017 recorded more than 2 percentage points of shipment-based share gains across the equipment segments that we serve. Our market share performance was broad-based, with strength coming in from areas that are most critical to the success of our customers with a focus on technology enablement across the full suite of industry inflections anticipated as relevant for our customers for the next 5 to 10 years. We had very strong momentum in atomic layer deposition products, which has been a focus area for new product introductions for several years. We more than tripled our shipments of ALD products in 2017. We had record shipments in dielectric etch, with more than a tripling of the installed base to over 1,000 process modules for our Flex G Series products, which address the most challenging aspects of 3D NAND scaling. We had a record year for conductor etch, with application wins across Foundry and NAND markets. We strengthened our position in tungsten CVD and ALD as well as electro-fill deposition. We had a strong year for clean products with a 50% growth in our EOS clean product installed base.

2017 年，我們服務的各個設備領域的出貨量份額均成長超過 2 個百分點。我們的市佔率表現全面，主要來自對客戶成功至關重要的領域，重點是為客戶在未來 5 到 10 年內可能面臨的所有行業變革提供技術賦能。我們在原子層沉積產品領域發展勢頭強勁，該領域一直是我們多年來推出新產品的重點領域。2017年，我們的ALD產品出貨量增加了三倍多。我們在介質蝕刻領域取得了創紀錄的出貨量，Flex G 系列產品的安裝基數增長了三倍多，達到 1000 多個工藝模組，該產品解決了 3D NAND 微縮中最具挑戰性的方面。我們在導體蝕刻領域取得了創紀錄的一年，在晶圓代工和 NAND 市場都獲得了應用訂單。我們在鎢 CVD 和 ALD 以及電填充沉積領域鞏固了我們的地位。今年我們的清潔產品業務表現強勁，EOS 清潔產品的裝機量成長了 50%。

As you know, broadening our customer base has been a key part of our strategy in the last decade, and we are pleased to see it's delivered results with record shipments in Logic for the year. Strength here was driven both by ramp of etch application wins at leading-edge Logic as well as trailing-edge Logic shipments to a broad set of customers for IoT applications. There should be no question about the fundamental relevance of the Lam product portfolio in etch and deposition to the device architecture and manufacturing processes planned by our customers broadly now and in the long term. We have much more comprehensive engagements across all device segments than ever before, creating a platform of learning and optionality that enhances our competitive differentiation and the quality of our earnings. Increased strategic relevance to our customer's success creates expectations and also significant opportunity for the company, not least relative to the performance of more than 50,000 Lam process chambers in the global semiconductor installed base today.

如您所知，擴大客戶群一直是過去十年我們策略的關鍵部分，我們很高興看到這項策略取得了成效，今年 Logic 的出貨量創下歷史新高。此次業績成長的驅動力既來自於尖端邏輯晶片蝕刻應用訂單的激增，也來自於面向眾多物聯網應用客戶的尖端邏輯晶片出貨量的增加。毫無疑問，Lam 產品組合在蝕刻和沈積方面與我們的客戶現在和長期計劃的裝置架構和製造流程有著根本的相關性。我們與所有設備領域的合作比以往任何時候都更加全面，從而創造了一個學習和選擇的平台，增強了我們的競爭優勢和獲利品質。對客戶成功的策略相關性不斷提高，這為公司帶來了期望，也帶來了巨大的機遇，尤其考慮到目前全球半導體安裝基礎中超過 50,000 個 Lam 工藝腔室的性能。

Our customer service business group grew profitable revenues in 2017 faster than the pace of our installed base growth. More importantly, they took custody over the delivery of a portfolio of productivity solutions that we believe created more value for the customer and enhanced competitiveness of Lam than in any prior year. Over the last decade, Lam has transitioned from an etch company highly levered to Memory customers to a multi-product and services company with broader customer exposure across all device segments. That transition speaks to the quality of technology leadership. It speaks to cycles of learning and also business momentum.

2017 年，我們的客戶服務業務集團的獲利收入成長速度超過了客戶群的成長速度。更重要的是，他們負責交付一系列生產力解決方案，我們相信這些解決方案為客戶創造了比以往任何一年都更大的價值，並提高了 Lam 的競爭力。在過去的十年裡，Lam 從一家高度依賴記憶體客戶的蝕刻公司轉型為擁有更廣泛客戶群的多產品和服務公司，客戶遍布所有設備領域。這一轉變體現了技術領導的素質。它體現了學習的循環以及業務發展勢頭。

As device performance is increasingly driven by adoption of new structures and new materials, as the traditional scaling solutions are limited by physics or economics in high-volume manufacturing, enhancing our etch, clean and deposition portfolio with disruptive and value-creating technology is a strong focus. Illustratively, shipments for new Memory solutions, which have extremely demanding requirements, more than tripled for Lam in 2017. Our strategy for differentiation extends well beyond technology enablement for unit process and co-optimized or integrated products. Our fundamentally collaborative culture and values create an unmatched potential. As a participant in the semiconductor eco-system, we are committed to harness the holistic value of Lam for the benefit of all stakeholders.

由於裝置性能越來越依賴新結構和新材料的採用，而傳統的縮放解決方案在大規模生產中受到物理或經濟因素的限制，因此，利用顛覆性和創造價值的技術來增強我們的蝕刻、清洗和沈積產品組合成為我們的重點。例如，2017 年 Lam 公司針對新型儲存解決方案（對效能要求極高）的出貨量增加了兩倍以上。我們的差異化策略遠遠超出了單元製程和協同優化或整合產品的技術賦能。我們以協作為根本的文化和價值觀創造了無與倫比的潛力。作為半導體生態系統的參與者，我們致力於發揮 Lam 的整體價值，造福所有利害關係人。

Now turning to the overall equipment spending trends of 2017 and our expectations for 2018. We believe that WFE investments in 2017 ended at a little over $47 billion, which was up approximately 30% from the prior year. Slightly more than half of the investments made in 2017 were for Memory and were weighted primarily towards NAND flash.

現在讓我們來看看 2017 年的整體設備支出趨勢以及我們對 2018 年的預期。我們認為，2017 年 WFE 的投資額略高於 470 億美元，比前一年增長了約 30%。2017 年的投資中略多於一半用於記憶器，並且主要集中在 NAND 快閃記憶體上。

Semiconductors are fundamental to enabling the generation, transmission, storage and analysis of increasing quantities of data, which has the potential to transform every segment of the global economy. We remain optimistic about the potential for continued global economic stability and growth. We anticipate healthy demand for semiconductors across the full spectrum of consumer and enterprise markets. We expect year-over-year growth in overall WFE in 2018 in the low double-digit percentages, led by DRAM and Logic investments and supported by the fundamental demand drivers for silicon and the confidence we have in the continued motivation for investment discipline by all key market participants. We still anticipate that approximately 85% of the year-over-year spending growth is Memory based.

半導體是實現日益增長的數據的生成、傳輸、儲存和分析的基礎，這有可能改變全球經濟的各個領域。我們對全球經濟持續穩定和成長的潛力依然保持樂觀。我們預期消費市場和企業市場對半導體的需求將十分旺盛。我們預計 2018 年 WFE 整體將實現兩位數百分比的同比增長，這主要得益於 DRAM 和邏輯晶片投資的增長，以及對矽晶片基本需求的推動，還有我們對所有主要市場參與者持續保持投資紀律的信心。我們仍然預計，年比支出成長中約有 85% 來自儲存設備。

Preliminarily, we plan for double-digit growth on overall Memory WFE in 2018 with a greater balance between DRAM and NAND spending than was true in calendar '17. Sustained to slightly increased investment in NAND overall is the year-over-year headline for 2018. More of the incremental growth is from DRAM, where supply and demand balance tightened last year. Importantly, in DRAM, technology trends are resulting in meaningfully higher levels of investment required to drive similar levels of bit supply growth compared to historical levels. We do expect a modest market demand-led expansion of the wafer starts per month installed base in DRAM, particularly supporting data center content expansion, and we align to the consensus view on bit growth in both markets.

初步來看，我們計劃 2018 年整體記憶體 WFE 實現兩位數成長，DRAM 和 NAND 支出之間的平衡程度將比 2017 年更大。2018 年，NAND 整體投資保持穩定或略有成長，這是與前一年相比的主要趨勢。增量成長主要來自DRAM，去年DRAM的供需平衡趨緊。值得注意的是，在 DRAM 領域，技術趨勢導致需要投入比以往水準更高的資金才能實現類似的比特供應成長。我們預計，在市場需求的推動下，DRAM 晶圓月開工量將出現小幅增長，尤其是在支援資料中心內容擴展方面，我們與市場對兩個市場位元成長的共識觀點一致。

On the demand side, NAND continues to be increasingly qualified into the data center. And density, not unit increases, continue to be the important driver for clients' mobile and PC devices. We continue to see Lam's addressable markets net of customer yield and productivity in NAND growing faster than NAND WFE as customers transition from 64-layer to 96-layer investments starting late in 2018 and into 2019. We expect growth in non-Memory CapEx, led primarily by Logic investments in both leading-edge 10-nanometer as well as trailing-edge 28-nanometer and above investments offset by flat to slightly lower investments in leading-edge Foundry from reuse among other strategies.

在需求方面，NAND閃存在資料中心的應用越來越廣泛。而密度，而不是數量增長，仍然是客戶移動和PC設備的重要驅動因素。我們繼續看到，隨著客戶從 2018 年底到 2019 年從 64 層投資過渡到 96 層投資，Lam 在 NAND 方面扣除客戶良率和生產力後的潛在市場增長速度比 NAND WFE 更快。我們預計非記憶體資本支出將成長，主要由邏輯晶片投資推動，包括領先的 10 奈米製程以及落後的 28 奈米及以上製程的投資，但同時，由於其他策略，領先的代工廠投資將持平或略有下降。

As a headline, 2018 looks to be a very solid year of demand-led equipment investment by our customers within the exciting context of increased prominence of silicon as a foundation of global innovation and presents enhanced opportunity for Lam.

從整體來看，2018 年對我們的客戶而言，在矽作為全球創新基礎日益凸顯的背景下，需求驅動的設備投資將非常穩健，這為 Lam 帶來了更大的機會。

Now I would like to touch briefly on the topic of capital allocation in light of the passage of recent U.S. tax reform legislation. Doug will address more details later, but at a high level, the guiding principles for capital allocation at Lam remain unchanged: first and foremost, invest in the long-term profitable growth of Lam; deliver increased optionality to create value from the strengths of Lam with accretive investments in our core and noncore markets; then return excess cash to our shareholders through strategies that include sustaining and growing dividends over time and excess capital redistribution to shareholders as appropriate. We are obviously inspired by our opportunity and proud of our operational execution to date.

現在，我想結合美國最近通過的稅改法案，簡單談談資本配置問題。Doug 稍後會詳細介紹，但總體而言，Lam 的資本配置指導原則保持不變：首先，也是最重要的，投資於 Lam 的長期盈利增長；通過在核心和非核心市場進行增值投資，為 Lam 的優勢創造更多價值選擇；然後通過包括長期維持和增加股息以及酌情將超額資本再分配給股東在內的資本策略，將返還給股東。我們顯然受到了此次機會的鼓舞，並為我們迄今為止的營運執行感到自豪。

On this last subject of tax, it is worth emphasizing that we implemented a comprehensive global strategy in 2003. As such, we have compelling value created from this recent legislative action. Illustratively, strategic optionality is accelerated with cash available to U.S. operations increasing from $1 billion to $5 billion. In the hypothetical event of 100% U.S. repatriation, we save $1 billion of cash from the tax rates previously applicable. 85% of our gross cash balances are now available for repatriation, and that represents $25 per share or 12% of the Lam share price currently. How much and when we repatriate and plans for capital allocation are framed by a broad set of strategic choices, which we will discuss in our upcoming investor and analyst meeting.

關於稅收這個最後一個問題，值得強調的是，我們在 2003 年實施了一項全面的全球策略。因此，我們從這項最新的立法行動中獲得了巨大的價值。舉例來說，隨著美國業務可用現金從 10 億美元增加到 50 億美元，戰略選擇權也隨之增強。假設所有資金全部匯回美國，我們將因先前適用的稅率而節省 10 億美元現金。我們目前有 85% 的現金餘額可供匯回，相當於每股 25 美元，或 Lam 目前股價的 12%。資金匯回的數額和時間以及資本配置計劃都受到一系列戰略選擇的限制，我們將在即將召開的投資者和分析師會議上討論這些選擇。

Unrelated, you will have seen another announcement today about Lam leadership, specifically the promotion of Tim Archer, our Chief Operating Officer, to the position of President and Chief Operating Officer. This promotion is recognition of Tim's contribution so far on the journey of Lam, and it is a commentary on the partnership that we continue to share. Except for some tweaks in emphasis, our fundamental responsibilities will remain unchanged. Our commitment and passion for seeing Lam realize its full potential only strengthened. The full complement of global leaders at Lam have made possible our vision. Tim and I both look forward to the challenges and opportunities in the years ahead.

另外，您今天可能已經看到有關 Lam 領導層的另一項公告，具體來說，就是將我們的營運長 Tim Archer 晉升為總裁兼營運長。這次晉升是對 Tim 迄今為止在 Lam 的發展歷程中所做貢獻的認可，也是對我們持續合作的最佳詮釋。除了在重點上做一些調整外，我們的基本職責將保持不變。我們對看到 Lam 充分發揮其潛力的決心和熱情有增無減。Lam 的全體全球領導者使我們的願景成為可能。蒂姆和我都很期待未來幾年的挑戰和機會。

In conclusion, we're optimistic about our opportunity, our strategies and the potential for continued outperformance for Lam. We look forward to sharing more aspects of our vision with you in March.

總之，我們對 Lam 的發展機會、策略以及持續取得優異績效的潛力充滿信心。我們期待在三月與您分享我們願景的更多方面。

With that, let me turn the call over to Doug.

那麼，現在讓我把電話交給道格。

Okay, great. Thank you, Martin. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us today.

好的，太好了。謝謝你，馬丁。各位下午好，感謝各位今天蒞臨。

We ended calendar year 2017 with strong performance, exceeding the midpoint of our guidance for the December quarter on all of our financial metrics. In addition to the milestones that Martin mentioned during his scripted remarks, during calendar year 2017, we generated over $2 billion in cash from operations. That was an increase of 37% compared to calendar year 2016. And we returned $2,193,000,000 to our shareholders through share repurchases as well as dividends.

我們在 2017 年取得了強勁的業績，所有財務指標均超過了我們對 12 月季度業績預期的中位數。除了馬丁在事先準備好的演講中提到的里程碑之外，在 2017 年，我們從營運中獲得了超過 20 億美元的現金。與 2016 年相比，成長了 37%。我們透過股票回購和分紅向股東返還了 21.93 億美元。

We're very pleased with what we've achieved this quarter as well as this calendar year. Shipments continued at a healthy level in the December quarter, totaling $2,632,000,000, which was a little above the midpoint of our guidance. Memory shipments increased in the quarter, with the combined Memory segment representing 77% of total system shipments, and that compares with 66% in the previous quarter. Customers continue to ramp NAND and other nonvolatile memory technologies, which made up 53% of the system shipments. This was up from the 49% level that we saw in the September quarter. The NAND investments were directed towards meeting increased bit demand through a combination of capacity additions, 2D to 3D conversions as well as 3D installed base layer count growth.

我們對本季以及本年度所取得的成績都非常滿意。12 月季度出貨量持續維持健康水平，總計 26.32 億美元，略高於我們預期的中點。本季記憶體出貨量有所成長，記憶體業務佔系統總出貨量的 77%，而上一季這一比例為 66%。客戶繼續增加對 NAND 和其他非揮發性儲存技術的投入，這些技術佔系統出貨量的 53%。這比9月季度的49%水準有所上升。NAND 投資旨在透過增加容量、2D 到 3D 轉換以及 3D 安裝基礎層數量的成長來滿足不斷增長的位元需求。

DRAM shipments made up 24% of the system shipments, and this was up from 17% in the prior quarter. This was the highest dollar value of DRAM system shipment systems since the March 2015 quarter. Strong DRAM pricing supports these investments, which continue to be largely directed towards 1x nanometer conversions.

DRAM 出貨量佔系統出貨量的 24%，高於上一季的 17%。這是自 2015 年 3 月季度以來 DRAM 系統出貨額最高的一次。強勁的DRAM價格支撐了這些投資，這些投資仍然主要集中在1奈米製程的轉換上。

December quarter Foundry shipments were 15% of system shipments, down from 21% in the prior quarter. Foundry spending was primarily directed towards 7-nanometer pilot capability as well as 10-nanometer volume production projects. And finally, the Logic and other segment accounted for another 8% of system shipments that was down compared with 13% in the last quarter.

12 月季度代工廠出貨量佔系統出貨量的 15%，低於上一季的 21%。代工廠的支出主要用於 7 奈米製程的試點能力以及 10 奈米製程的大量生產項目。最後，邏輯和其他部分佔系統出貨量的 8%，低於上一季的 13%。

Revenues for the quarter came in at $2,581,000,000, above the midpoint of guidance and up 4% from the previous record high level that we saw in the September quarter.

本季營收達到 25.81 億美元，高於預期中位數，比 9 月創下的前一個歷史最高水準成長了 4%。

Gross margin came in at 47.6%. As I always mention, you should expect to see some quarter-to-quarter variability in gross margins due to multiple factors, such as product mix, customer concentration and overall business volumes.

毛利率為 47.6%。正如我一直提到的，由於產品組合、客戶集中度和整體業務量等多種因素的影響，毛利率會出現季度間的波動。

Operating expenses in the December quarter increased to $449 million, coming in at 17.4% of revenue. That compares with 17.7% in September. Approximately 63% of the OpEx spend in the quarter was allocated to R&D, which was around the same ratio as we've held for the calendar year. And while we continue to see opportunities to further leverage OpEx, we will continue to increase our funding of strategic R&D programs to maintain our technology as well as productivity leadership. These investments are critical to meeting our commitments to customers and to our objective of growing the company at a faster pace than the industry. The growth in the size of our served available markets and the market share gains that Martin mentioned are the result of investments we've made and work that we've done over the course of the last several years.

12 月季度的營運支出增加至 4.49 億美元，佔營收的 17.4%。相比之下，9 月的比例為 17.7%。本季營運支出中約有 63% 用於研發，這與我們全年的比例大致相同。儘管我們不斷看到進一步利用營運支出 (OpEx) 的機會，但我們將繼續增加對策略研發專案的投入，以保持我們在技術和生產力方面的領先地位。這些投資對於履行我們對客戶的承諾以及實現公司以比行業更快的速度成長的目標至關重要。馬丁提到的我們服務市場規模的成長和市場份額的提升，是我們過去幾年投資和努力的結果。

Operating income in the December quarter was $779 million, which was up from $733 million in the prior quarter. Operating margin came in at 30.2%, up compared to 29.6% in the September quarter and, again, a little above the midpoint of the guided range.

12 月季度的營業收入為 7.79 億美元，高於上一季的 7.33 億美元。營業利潤率為 30.2%，高於 9 月季度的 29.6%，並且再次略高於預期範圍的中點。

Our tax rate for the quarter was approximately negative 1%, down compared to 14% last quarter. The primary reason for the reduction in the non-GAAP tax rate is the reduced statutory U.S. rate combined with the delayed implementation of U.S. tax on foreign earnings. This is attributed to the application of the recently enacted tax changes for a non-calendar year filer. The new tax law applies to tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, which for Lam will be in the second half of 2018 onwards. Excluded from the non-GAAP tax rate is a one-time charge of $757 million. This is primarily made up of tax on accumulated foreign earnings to be repatriated. The cash tax payments will be made over the next 8 years. Tax rate in the mid-single digits in the first half of 2018 and mid-teens in the second half of 2018 would be reasonable for you to include in your models.

本季我們的稅率約為負1%，低於上季的14%。非GAAP稅率降低的主要原因是美國法定稅率降低，以及美國對海外收益徵稅的實施延遲。這是由於最近針對非日曆年度申報者實施的稅務改革所致。新的稅法適用於 2017 年 12 月 31 日之後開始的納稅年度，對林鄭月娥來說，這將是 2018 年下半年及以後。非GAAP稅率不包括一次性費用7.57億美元。這主要包括匯回海外累計收益所徵收的稅。現金稅將在未來8年內分期繳納。2018 年上半年稅率在個位數中段，2018 年下半年稅率在十幾中段，這些都是您在模型中可以合理考慮的因素。

Based on a share count of about 182 million shares, earnings per share for the December quarter totaled $4.34, above the high end of our guided range. The biggest contributor to the earnings per share being above the range was the favorable impact on the tax rate. Without the impact of the tax rate change, we would have been approximately $0.10 above the midpoint of guidance. The share count includes approximately 18 million shares of dilutive impact on a non-GAAP basis from the 2018 and 2041 convertible notes.

根據約 1.82 億股的股數計算，12 月季度的每股收益總計為 4.34 美元，高於我們預期範圍的上限。每股盈餘超出預期範圍的最大原因是稅率的有利影響。如果沒有稅率變化的影響，我們的業績將比預期中位數高出約 0.10 美元。股份數量包括 2018 年和 2041 年可轉換票據按非 GAAP 準則計算的約 1,800 萬股稀釋性影響。

And I'll just mention with the increase in our stock price, we've continued to receive requests for early conversions of both the 2018 and 2041 convertible notes. Conversions that settled in the December quarter totaled $44 million, of which $32 million related to the 2018 convert and $12 million to the 2041 bond. To date, we've also received requests for conversions totaling $175 million that will settle in the March quarter. And I'll remind you dilution schedules for the updated notional amounts in the 2018 and 2041 convertible notes are available on our Investor Relations website to help you with your modeling.

另外，我想提一下，隨著我們股價的上漲，我們不斷收到提前轉換 2018 年和 2041 年可轉換債券的請求。12 月季度結算的轉換總額為 4,400 萬美元，其中 3,200 萬美元與 2018 年轉換有關，1,200 萬美元與 2041 年債券有關。迄今為止，我們還收到了總額達 1.75 億美元的轉換請求，這些請求將在 3 月的季度內結算。我還要提醒各位，2018 年和 2041 年可轉換債券更新後的名義金額的稀釋時間表已發佈在我們的投資者關係網站上，以幫助您進行建模。

We continue to execute on our capital return program. As you may recall, we announced in November a new $2 billion buyback authorization. In the December quarter, we spent approximately $1.1 billion on share repurchases largely through an accelerated share repurchase program, and we paid out $73 million in dividends to our shareholders. Consistent with our prior comments, we're committed to growing the dividend over time. And in November, we also announced an 11% increase in our quarterly dividend to $0.50 per share, which was payable earlier this month.

我們將繼續執行資本回報計劃。您可能還記得，我們​​在 11 月宣布了一項新的 20 億美元的股票回購授權。在 12 月季度，我們花費了約 11 億美元用於股票回購，主要透過加速股票回購計劃，並向股東支付了 7,300 萬美元的股息。正如我們之前所言，我們將致力於隨著時間的推移提高股息。11 月，我們也宣布將季度股息提高 11%，至每股 0.50 美元，並於本月初支付。

Now let me move to the balance sheet. During the December quarter, we initiated a $1.25 billion commercial paper program. And as of the end of the December quarter, we had $800 million outstanding. We ended the quarter with cash and short-term investments, including restricted cash, of about $6 billion. Approximately $5 billion of the $6 billion was domiciled outside of the United States. This is the amount that comes more flexibly available with tax reform.

現在讓我來看資產負債表。在 12 月季度，我們啟動了一項 12.5 億美元的商業票據計畫。截至12月底，我們未償債務為8億美元。本季末，我們持有的現金和短期投資（包括受限現金）約為 60 億美元。這60億美元中約有50億美元位於美國境外。這是稅制改革後可以更有彈性支配的金額。

Cash from operations was $29 million, down from $858 million in the September quarter. The low cash generation during the quarter was a result of the timing of certain receivables as well as the growth in inventory to support the strong shipments we see in the March quarter. And I would just mention we collected approximately $700 million at the end of December, which was after our fiscal quarter had closed. Days sales outstanding increased to 80 days versus 56 last quarter. Inventory turns came in at 3.6 compared to 4 in the prior quarter. And I'd just mention I expect the March quarter will be a very strong cash-generating quarter.

經營活動產生的現金流量為 2,900 萬美元，低於 9 月季度的 8.58 億美元。本季現金流不足是由於某些應收帳款的到帳時間以及為支持三月份季度強勁出貨量而增加的庫存所致。我還要提一下，我們在 12 月底收到了大約 7 億美元的收入，而那時我們的財政季度已經結束了。應收帳款週轉天數從上季的 56 天增加到 80 天。庫存週轉率為 3.6，而上一季為 4。我還要提一下，我預計三月的季度將是一個非常強勁的現金流季度。

Deferred revenue at the end of the quarter were $1,114,000,000, which was up from $938 million last quarter. This number excludes $289 million in shipments to customers in Japan, which will revenue in future quarters. And I'd just remind you that these Japan shipments remain as inventory carried at cost on the balance sheet.

本季末遞延營收為 11.14 億美元，高於上一季的 9.38 億美元。該數字不包括向日本客戶發貨的價值 2.89 億美元的產品，這些產品將在未來幾季計入收入。我還要提醒各位，這些從日本出貨的貨物仍作為庫存，以成本計入資產負債表。

I should mention that we will be adopting the new revenue recognition standard, ASC 606, starting in the second half of calendar year 2018 to coincide with the start of our fiscal year 2019. I'll have more to tell you about this as we get closer to the second half of the year.

我應該提一下，我們將從 2018 年下半年開始採用新的收入確認準則 ASC 606，以配合我們 2019 財年的開始。隨著下半年的臨近，我會就此向你們詳細介紹。

Company noncash expenses during the quarter included the following: $42 million for equity compensation, $41 million for amortization and $39 million for depreciation.

該季度公司非現金支出包括：股權激勵支出 4,200 萬美元，攤銷支出 4,100 萬美元，折舊支出 3,900 萬美元。

Capital expenditures were $85 million, which was up from $60 million in the September quarter. This growth was driven by factory and lab expansions as well as lab tool investments. CapEx for the year came in at $224 million. We do expect to see a further increase in CapEx in calendar year 2018 as we continue to expand our manufacturing network and support growth in strategic R&D programs.

資本支出為 8,500 萬美元，高於 9 月季度的 6,000 萬美元。這一增長是由工廠和實驗室的擴建以及實驗室工具的投資所推動的。該年度資本支出為 2.24 億美元。我們預計，隨著我們不斷擴大製造網絡並支持戰略研發項目的成長，2018 年的資本支出將進一步增加。

We ended the quarter with approximately 10,200 regular, full-time employees. The majority of the headcount was added in the factory and field to support the growth of our business.

本季末，我們約有 10,200 名正式全職員工。大部分新增員工都集中在工廠和現場，以支持我們業務的成長。

As Martin mentioned in his remarks, company is enjoying significant business momentum heading into the March quarter. Our non-GAAP guidance for the quarter is as follows: We're expecting shipments of $3,175,000,000 plus or minus $125 million. We're forecasting revenue of $2,850,000,000, again, plus or minus $125 million. We're forecasting gross margin of 46% plus or minus 1 percentage point. I do expect to see a stronger gross margin percentage in the June quarter as compared to March. We're forecasting operating margins of 29% plus or minus 1 percentage point. And finally, we forecast earnings per share of $4.35 plus or minus $0.15 based on a share count of approximately 181 million shares.

正如馬丁在演講中提到的那樣，公司在進入三月的季度時，業務發展勢頭強勁。本季非GAAP業績指引如下：預計出貨量為31.75億美元，上下浮動1.25億美元。我們預測營收為 28.5 億美元，上下浮動 1.25 億美元。我們預測毛利率為 46%，上下浮動 1 個百分點。我預計六月季度的毛利率將比三月季度更高。我們預測營業利益率為 29%，上下浮動 1 個百分點。最後，我們根據約 1.81 億股的股票數量預測每股收益為 4.35 美元，上下浮動 0.15 美元。

Before we move into Q&A, I'd like to provide an update on our plans for our Analyst Day. We will be hosting this event on Tuesday, March 6, in New York City. We'll be providing additional details regarding the event logistics in the next week or so.

在進入問答環節之前，我想先介紹一下我們分析師日的計畫。我們將於3月6日星期二在紐約市舉辦此活動。我們將在接下來的一周左右提供有關活動後勤方面的更多細節。

Entering 2018, we continue to be pleased with the positive momentum in our business and the progress we're making towards our ongoing business objectives. We remain optimistic in the strong demand for our products and services, and we look forward to sharing a comprehensive update on the company's plans at our Analyst Day in March.

進入 2018 年，我們對公司業務的積極發展勢頭以及在實現現有業務目標方面取得的進展感到滿意。我們對市場對我們產品和服務的強勁需求仍然保持樂觀，並期待在三月的分析師日上分享公司計劃的全面最新進展。

Operator, that concludes my prepared remarks. Please open up the call to questions.

操作員，我的發言到此結束。請開放提問環節。

(Operator Instructions) And we'll take our first question from C.J. Muse with Evercore.

（操作說明）接下來，我們將回答來自 Evercore 公司的 C.J. Muse 的第一個問題。

I guess, first question, I was hoping you could provide some help around the cost down efforts in the NAND market. And so as you think about moving from single stack to multi-stack, QLC, perhaps some other techniques that you're helping your customers with, would love to hear how you think about the big guys and their ability to drive down their cost such that the hard disk drive market becomes achievable to penetrate. That will be very helpful.

我想問的第一個問題是，我希望您能就 NAND 市場的成本降低工作提供一些幫助。因此，當您考慮從單堆疊過渡到多堆疊、QLC，或者您正在幫助客戶使用的其他一些技術時，我很想聽聽您如何看待那些大公司以及他們降低成本的能力，從而使硬碟市場變得可以進入。那將非常有幫助。

My, that's a comprehensive question, C.J. So, maybe I should start with our assumption that we communicated in the analyst meeting a year ago. We actually -- when we articulated our perspective on the opportunity for Lam and we gave this reference of $70 billion of investment, our assumption was actually that SSD would not be disruptive to hard disk drives. Our assumption was that the demand for storage and memory in the world would essentially be serviced by this new mode of nonvolatile memory, all these new product with nonvolatile memory, and that hard disk drives would just kind of be kind of capped out. That was the modeling assumption that we presented to you. So to the extent the scenario plays out in the way you articulated, you should presume that's kind of upside to the commentary of the company because of what I just said. Obviously, NAND is probably the poster child for a market with elasticity of demand. And the industry has universally adopted a new technology. It is scaling that new technology in terms of planar to 3D transitions and layer counts. And when our customers make investments, they make it because they have performance enhancements on device and they have cost road maps that create opportunities for incremental demand to get kind of created. So there's an awful lot I could say about this subject. The headline that I hope everybody retains here is we think the world of silicon and we think the world of nonvolatile memory, specifically, has tremendous opportunity in the years ahead as a byproduct of this innovation that's emerged around the value of data in the world. And the good news for Lam from a lot of hard work and a lot of partnerships with our customers, we positioned a portfolio of products and a product pipeline that's focused on enabling that road map.

哎呀，C.J.，你這個問題問得真全面。那麼，或許我應該先從我們一年前在分析師會議上溝通的假設說起。實際上，當我們闡述我們對 Lam 機會的看法，並提到 700 億美元的投資時，我們的假設是 SSD 不會對硬碟造成顛覆性影響。我們當時的假設是，世界上對儲存和記憶體的需求基本上將由這種新型的非揮發性記憶體來滿足，所有這些採用非揮發性記憶體的新產品，而硬碟的需求將達到極限。這就是我們向你們提出的建模假設。所以，如果情況真如你所描述的那樣發展，那麼根據我剛才所說，你應該認為這對公司來說是一種利好消息。顯然，NAND快閃記憶體可能是需求彈性較大的市場的典型代表。整個產業普遍採用了新技術。它正在擴展這項新技術，使其能夠實現從平面到 3D 的過渡，並增加層數。當我們的客戶進行投資時，是因為他們希望提升設備性能，他們的成本路線圖能夠創造增量需求的機會。關於這個主題，我有很多話要說。我希望大家記住的重點是：我們認為矽的世界，特別是非揮發性記憶體的世界，在未來幾年裡擁有巨大的機遇，這是圍繞數據價值而出現的創新所帶來的副產品。好消息是，透過大量的努力和與客戶的密切合作，我們打造了一系列產品和產品線，專注於實現這一路線圖。

That's helpful, appreciate it. And I guess as a follow-up, as you think about your 1.7x outperformance in '17 -- and it looks like mix is going to be there for you again in '18, would love to hear your thoughts in terms of how -- whether you can rank order or not, how you would think about perhaps gains in share in Logic, service growth and other areas where you're seeing increased patterning that will drive faster-than-expected industry growth for you guys. I would love to hear thoughts on that.

那很有幫助，謝謝。我想作為後續問題，考慮到你們在 2017 年取得了 1.7 倍的超額收益——而且看起來 Mix 在 2018 年也會繼續為你們帶來收益，我很想聽聽你們的想法，無論你們能否對排名進行排序，你們會如何看待 Logic 市場份額的增長、服務增長以及其他行業的預期增長模式，這些都將推動你們預期的增長速度。我很想聽聽大家的想法。

Thank you. I appreciate the question, C.J. And maybe I can just restate something I said in my prepared remarks because it's a very important disclosure from the company relative to our focus, our definition of success and our priority. And I share that because I have some anxiety that the investment community gets trapped in fairly incomplete disclosure from the totality of the industry on market share, hence our focus. So our focus is the following: Our primary objective is to promote our customer's success through an increased proportion of their spending that we actively compete for and through differentiation to win and sustain more of that business over time. That means that our focus at a product line level and a business unit level and a segment level has to be on the share that we have. But what really counts is where that share is and our focus is on the most critical applications, the most valued applications for our customers and the sustainability of that share through the economics that are associated with it. And the most basic measure of performance for any company in any market is the one that I characterized. And we will continue to answer these questions on market share by focus around that kind of basis. And our headline for last year was 21% of WFE against 18.5% in prior year, against 14.2% in the year -- the first year after bringing Lam and Novellus together. So momentum is really good. The technology inflections still have tremendous opportunity for us. More or less, the headlines that we communicated in NAND flash at the analyst meeting are only, I would say, a little better 1 year on. And we'll spend more time talking about that in a few weeks. And in the world of patterning, I think the headlines that we communicated in our analyst meeting a year ago are as valid today as they were then, and that includes the various scenarios of adoption of EUV and that includes the various technology advancements that have played out since that time in multi-patterning process flow.

謝謝。C.J.，我很感謝你的提問。或許我可以重述一下我在準備好的發言稿中說過的話，因為這對公司而言是一個非常重要的資訊揭露，它關係到我們的關注點、我們對成功的定義以及我們的優先事項。我之所以分享這一點，是因為我擔心投資界會因為無法全面了解整個產業的市場佔有率而陷入困境，因此我們才關注這一點。因此，我們的重點如下：我們的主要目標是透過積極爭取客戶支出中更高比例的份額，並透過差異化贏得並長期維持更多業務，從而促進客戶的成功。這意味著我們在產品線層面、業務部門層面和細分市場層面都必須專注於我們所擁有的市場份額。但真正重要的是市場份額在哪裡，我們的重點是關鍵應用、對客戶最有價值的應用，以及透過相關的經濟效益來維持市場份額的可持續性。而衡量任何公司在任何市場中的表現最基本的指標就是我所描述的那種指標。我們將繼續圍繞這一基礎來回答有關市場份額的問題。去年我們的頭條新聞是 WFE 佔 21%，而前一年為 18.5%，第一年為 14.2%——這是 Lam 和 Novellus 合併後的第一年。所以勢頭真的很好。技術變革仍然為我們帶來巨大的機會。總的來說，我們在分析師會議上傳達的關於 NAND 快閃記憶體的訊息，一年過去了，可以說只是略有改善而已。我們將在幾週後花更多時間討論這個問題。在圖案化領域，我認為我們一年前在分析師會議上傳達的要點，今天仍然和當時一樣有效，這包括 EUV 的各種應用場景，以及自那時以來在多重圖案化工藝流程中出現的各種技術進步。

And we'll take our next question from Romit Shah with Nomura.

接下來，我們將回答來自野村證券的羅米特·沙阿提出的問題。

The March shipment numbers, obviously, a very big number. And I feel like there could be some skepticism around that shipment number and how strong it is and whether or not that's really sustainable. And so I was hoping you could comment on just if we look throughout the year and just triangulate between the outperformance you delivered in 2017 and your outlook for low double-digit WFE growth this year, it would seem like the March shipment guidance is a number that you could sustain throughout the year. I want to get your feedback on that.

顯然，3月的出貨量非常大。我覺得大家可能會對這個出貨量、它的強度以及它是否真的可持續抱持著一些懷疑。因此，我希望您能就以下問題發表評論：如果我們回顧全年，並將您在 2017 年取得的優異業績與您今年對 WFE 低兩位數增長的預期進行對比，那麼 3 月份的出貨量指引似乎是您可以全年維持的數字。我想聽聽你對此的回饋。

Yes, I mean we're obviously -- we're not in the game of guiding every quarter of the year or even the year with any specificity. But to the spirit of your question, I hope there isn't skepticism around the quarter itself because I hope at this point, we've got a track record of actually delivering on the kind of quarters' commitments. Relative to sustainability, obviously, this is all about fundamental demand. And if you sign up for the conventions that I described in my prepared comments, the convention that silicon has established itself quite differently in terms of potential (inaudible) data, then you would sign up for sustainability of investment. Now you might get ebbs and flows 1 quarter after another or 1 month, but the fundamental headline that we believe in and we're investing to create value in is a scenario of sustained and disciplined investment by our customers. At a more discrete level, just to put some more substance on it for you, our expectation is that relative to calendar '18, we see it as not perfectly but a reasonably balanced year for the industry and for the company both. And I would say that we see Memory could be slightly first half biased and Foundry could be slightly second half biased with Logic as fairly neutral in the year. And as was proven last year, everything I just said could be entirely wrong and probably is precisely wrong. But it's the best we have for you today in terms of trying to give you some color around quarter-to-quarter or half-to-half.

是的，我的意思是，我們顯然——我們不會具體地指導一年中的每個季度，甚至不會具體指導全年。但回到你問題的本質，我希望大家不要對本季業績抱持懷疑，因為我希望到目前為止，我們已經有兌現季度承諾的良好記錄。顯然，就永續性而言，這一切都與基本需求有關。如果你接受我在準備好的評論中描述的慣例，即矽在潛在（聽不清楚）數據方面已經確立了截然不同的慣例，那麼你就等於接受了投資的可持續性。現在，你可能會看到每個季度或每個月都有起伏波動，但我們堅信並投資創造價值的根本在於，我們的客戶能夠持續、有紀律地進行投資。更具體地說，為了更具體地說，為了更具體地說，我們預計相對於 2018 年，對於行業和公司而言，這將是一個相對平衡的年份，儘管並非完美。我認為，記憶體運算模組可能會略微偏向上半年，而鑄造模組可能會略微偏向下半年，邏輯模組則在這一年中表現相當中性。正如去年所證明的那樣，我剛才所說的一切都可能完全錯誤，而且很可能就是錯的。但就目前而言，這是我們能為您提供的最好的信息，希望能讓您對季度末或半年末的情況有所了解。

I appreciate it. I'm curious, just as my follow-up, how China plays into your forecast for this year because there's obviously a lot going on between domestic and global and Memory and Foundry. Is -- how does China play into your outlook?

謝謝。我很好奇，作為後續問題，中國在您今年的預測中扮演著怎樣的角色？因為很明顯，國內和國際市場以及記憶體和晶圓代工領域都有很多事情正在發生。中國在您​​的觀點中扮演著怎樣的角色？

Yes. So the China -- obviously, for the domestic community and the global players that are investing there, it's a big deal. And the headlines in terms of new fab projects are exactly the same today as they were 3 months ago when I detailed them. The only incremental disclosure today, obviously, is there are more projects that we're tracking. But when we look at WFE investment in calendar '18, we think that the domestic community combines all segments. So the domestic community in China, DRAM, flash and logic, foundry, probably invest slightly less than $5 billion, which is a little less than 10% of global WFE in the way we've described it to you. And that's up between $1 billion and $2 billion, maybe $1.5 billion compared to that kind of the '17. So it's an increasingly important component of spending. It's a big focus for us in terms of building infrastructure, supporting our customer's success and their vision and putting in place qualified people to support them. One last piece of data relative to our shipments when we look at the Lam shipments in China, 2/3 of the shipment dollars will be probably for the global players investing there, 1/3 for the domestic community.

是的。所以，對於中國國內市場和在那裡投資的全球企業來說，這顯然是一件大事。而今天關於新工廠計畫的頭條新聞與三個月前我詳細介紹時的情況完全一樣。顯然，今天唯一新增的資訊是，我們正在追蹤的項目更多了。但當我們審視 2018 年 WFE 的投資時，我們認為國內市場涵蓋了所有細分市場。因此，中國國內的DRAM、快閃記憶體和邏輯晶片代工產業，投資額可能略低於50億美元，相當於我們剛才描述的全球WFE的不到10%。與 2017 年相比，這增加了 10 億至 20 億美元，或許增加了 15 億美元。因此，它在消費中扮演著越來越重要的角色。這是我們工作的重點，包括建立基礎設施、支持客戶的成功和願景，以及配備合格的人員來支持他們。最後還有一條關於我們出貨量的數據，當我們查看 Lam 在中國的出貨量時，2/3 的出貨額可能流向在那裡投資的全球企業，1/3 流向國內市場。

And we'll take our next question from Mehdi Hosseini with SIG.

接下來，我們將回答來自 SIG 的 Mehdi Hosseini 提出的問題。

I want to go back to some of the structural changes, especially with 3D NAND. I want to get your view how we should think about a migration from 64 to 96 and in that context, with the new fab and a change in the layout have any impact in architecture, especially as 3D NAND, could lead to higher manufacturing cycle time. So perhaps, the new clean room could help with that versus converting existing planar NAND. Is there anything or any changes between these 2 sort of variables that we should add to our thesis?

我想回顧結構上的一些變化，特別是 3D NAND 技術。我想了解您對從 64 位元到 96 位元遷移的看法，以及在這種背景下，新的晶圓廠和佈局的變化是否會對架構產生任何影響，特別是對於 3D NAND 而言，這可能會導致更高的製造週期時間。所以，或許新建的無塵室可以解決這個問題，而不是改造現有的平面 NAND。這兩種變數之間是否存在任何需要我們添加到論文中的因素或變化？

Yes, I mean, I don't know I would characterize the kind of line layout complexities from 64 to 96 much differently than I would from the other versions that have preceded this. And I don't think I would characterize this as more challenging or complex than a planar to 3D conversion. But I think your question is a very important one and there are, I would say, fairly dynamic customer plans around how best they service the opportunities in the marketplace that they see. And we would expect to continue to see this portfolio of investments from greenfield to the planar to 3D scaling and 3D scaling vertically itself. We are -- as we said a number of times, we're agnostic actually in terms of the opportunity between the planar 3D conversion and the new fab addition from a business perspective. And I would expect based on what I know today that somewhere in the range of 2/3 of the investment by our -- by the industry is conversion related, and maybe 1/3 is additions. But that's a proxy that will change for sure as discrete opportunities will show up for customers and as they optimize their plans.

是的，我的意思是，我不知道我會如何描述 64 到 96 版本之間的行佈局複雜性，與之前的其他版本相比，不會有太大的不同。我不認為這會比平面到三維的轉換更具挑戰性或複雜性。但我認為你的問題非常重要，而且我認為，客戶會根據他們在市場中看到的機會，制定相當靈活的計劃來更好地服務這些機會。我們預計，從綠地開發到平面開發，再到 3D 擴展以及 3D 垂直擴展，這項投資組合將繼續發展。正如我們多次說過的那樣，從商業角度來看，我們對平面 3D 轉換和新增晶圓廠之間的機會實際上持中立態度。根據我目前所了解的情況，我預期我們產業投資的 2/3 左右與轉換有關，而新增投資可能只有 1/3。但隨著客戶遇到不同的機會並優化他們的計劃，這個指標肯定會改變。

Sure. And then -- and just quickly as a follow-up, as we think about the longer term, how should we think about the service component especially with some of the new areas like ALD? Would that carry different service attach rate versus the rest? And I know Analyst Day is coming up, but is there anything you can share with us?

當然。然後——作為後續快速提問，當我們考慮長遠發展時，我們應該如何看待服務部分，尤其是在像 ALD 這樣的新領域？與其他服務相比，這項服務的附加率會有所不同嗎？我知道分析師日即將到來，您有什麼可以跟我們分享的嗎？

Probably, it's a wait to the analyst meeting. There are some very important headlines, I think, for the company around the pace of growth in excess of the installed base and the product portfolio and the segments that we're growing are a part of that story. The emphasis that we're investing in around advanced services is part of that story. And I think there's something quite unique about where we are in the eco-system that presents opportunity as well. So it's definitely an increasingly valuable annuity to the company, and it's an increasingly important part of creating and delivering value to our customers.

可能是在等待分析師會議。我認為，對於公司而言，有一些非常重要的新聞標題，例如成長速度超過了現有用戶群和產品組合，以及我們正在成長的細分市場，這些都是這個故事的一部分。我們對先進服務領域的投資重點也是這項理念的一部分。我認為我們所處的生態系統位置非常獨特，這也帶來了機會。因此，它對公司而言無疑是一項越來越有價值的年金，也是為我們的客戶創造和交付價值越來越重要的一部分。

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

接下來，我們將回答摩根士丹利的喬·摩爾提出的問題。

I wonder if you could characterize the service and supplies business. And it seems like that's been consistently holding the same proportion of your overall revenue. Is -- how is that business kind of growing as fast as the systems business? And how sustainable do you think that growth is?

我想請您描述一下服務和供應行業的特點。而且，這項業務似乎一直佔據著你總收入的相同比例。——這個業務的成長速度怎麼能和系統業務一樣快呢？你認為這種成長的可持續性如何？

It's actually been growing faster than the installed base, which is a kind of statement of the breadth of the product and services portfolio that we're making available to our customers and we're investing in and creating. And dialogues around artificial intelligence and machine learning are as relevant inside of our company and as relevant in terms of developing products and services for our customers as it is for our customers and, in turn, their customers and the consumers. So don't disconnect the AI and the big data analytics headlines from the realities of our company as well. So it's a broadening portfolio. It's growing faster than installed base. And in a period where we've had extraordinary growth in our systems business, it's a testament to the strength of our customer service business group that we have. We're able to say what we're saying and preserve, in essence, the same percentage revenues coming from that business. Now what that means in terms of modeling purposes, if you happen to choose that you're going to model less growth in calendar '18 than was during '17, which is essentially what we've guided, then the value of that installed base business kind of goes up over time. So it's -- I think it's a great commentary on value, sustainability and quality of earnings.

實際上，它的成長速度比已安裝用戶群的成長速度還要快，這在某種程度上說明了我們正在為客戶提供、正在投資和創造的產品和服務組合的廣度。圍繞著人工智慧和機器學習的對話，對於我們公司內部以及為客戶開發產品和服務而言，都具有重要意義，對於我們的客戶、他們的客戶以及消費者而言，也同樣具有重要意義。所以，也不要將人工智慧和大數據分析的新聞標題與我們公司的實際情況脫節。所以這是一個不斷擴大的投資組合。它的成長速度超過了現有用戶群的成長速度。在我們系統業務取得非凡成長的這段時期，這充分證明了我們客戶服務業務團隊的實力。我們既能表達我們的觀點，又能基本保持該業務帶來的相同比例的收入。就建模而言，這意味著，如果您選擇模擬 2018 年日曆年的成長低於 2017 年的成長（這基本上就是我們一直在指導的方向），那麼隨著時間的推移，已安裝基礎業務的價值就會上升。所以——我認為這是對價值、可持續性和盈利品質的一個很好的評論。

And Joe, I always tell you it's is my favorite part about the company's business model. It's just -- it's annuity that just keeps going, keeps growing, keeps generating enormous amounts of cash. It's a great part of what we do.

喬，我總是跟你說，這是我最喜歡公司商業模式的一點。它就像——它是一種持續成長、不斷產生巨額現金的年金。這是我們工作的重要部分。

And we'll 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。

Martin, I had a question on EUV. I guess, as we approach the timing of insertion particularly in the foundry space and you learn more about the recipe that your customer might follow, has your view on your opportunity set as it relates to patterning changed over the past 6 or 12 months? Or has it remained kind of the same?

Martin，我有一個關於EUV的問題。我想，隨著我們接近產品投放時間，尤其是在鑄造領域，當你更多地了解你的客戶可能會遵循的配方時，你對過去 6 到 12 個月中與圖案設計相關的機會的看法是否有所改變？或者說，情況基本上不變？

It's remained the same.

情況依舊如此。

Okay, fair enough. And the second one, on the tax rate, Doug, I think you guided fiscal year second half, the tax rate to kind of the mid-teens. Should we consider that rate as the new normal for the company? Or should we expect some variability going forward post tax planning or whatever it may be?

好吧，這說得有道理。第二個問題是關於稅率，道格，我認為你指導下半年的稅率在十幾個百分點左右。我們是否應該將這個利率視為公司的新常態？或者，我們是否應該預期在稅務規劃或其他措施之後，未來會出現一些波動？

Yes, Toshi. If I was modeling out beyond the second half of '18, I'd probably keep it pretty steady with what I gave you, which is mid-teens for the second half. It always changes a little bit depending on where the geographic attribution of our business ebbs and flows. So it's not going to be precisely that, but that would be the best planning horizon or the planning number that I'd give you. And just to remind, make sure everybody heard, first half of calendar '18, mid-single digits; second half, mid-teens.

是的，Toshi。如果我要預測 2018 年下半年以後的情況，我可能會保持先前給的預測不變，也就是下半年維持在十幾歲左右。它總是會隨著我們業務的地域分佈的起伏而略有變化。所以不會完全一樣，但這應該是我能給的最佳規劃期限或規劃數字。再次提醒大家，確保每個人都聽到了，2018 年上半年，個位數；下半年，十幾位數。

And we'll take our next question from Farhan Ahmad with Credit Suisse.

接下來，我們將回答來自瑞士信貸的法爾漢·艾哈邁德提出的問題。

Farhan, I think you're on mute.

法爾漢，我覺得你靜音了。

Can you hear me?

你聽得到我嗎？

Yes, we can hear you now. Go ahead.

是的，我們現在可以聽到你的聲音了。前進。

So my first question is on memory in NAND and DRAM. What level of bit growth do you expect from the CapEx outlook that you have for the year?

所以我的第一個問題是關於NAND和DRAM的記憶體。根據您今年的資本支出展望，您預期比特成長幅度會達到什麼水準？

I think we kind of signed up for the consensus on bit growth, so the low 20s for DRAM and mid- to high 40s for NAND for calendar '18. Obviously, the server phone content in DRAM is a decent kind of content headline, and the same is true for the smartphone bit growth for NAND. And I think one of the illustrative headlines that we should all be conscious of is the average smartphone today has got maybe 4 GB of NAND content, and the best phones have 256 -- 40, that's right. I should have said, it's at 40 GB of content, and the best one is 256. So when you think about applications innovation and you think about the content headlines, not the unit headlines, that's one of the most fundamental drivers for the business prospectively.

我認為我們已經基本上接受了關於比特增長的共識，即 2018 年 DRAM 的比特增長將達到 20 左右，NAND 的比特增長將達到 40 多左右。顯然，DRAM 中的伺服器手機內容是一個不錯的頭條新聞，NAND 中的智慧型手機比特成長也是如此。我認為我們都應該意識到的一個具有啟發意義的標題是，如今普通智慧型手機的 NAND 儲存容量可能只有 4 GB，而最好的手機也只有 256 GB——沒錯，是 40 GB。我應該說，它的內容大小為 40 GB，最好的版本是 256 GB。所以，當你思考應用程式創新時，當你思考內容標題而不是單元標題時，這才是企業未來發展最根本的驅動力之一。

Got it. And then one question on the services. You are -- you had very strong growth in your systems business this year. Does that mean that we should see much stronger growth in your services business over next year or 1 year as these systems come off warranty?

知道了。然後還有一個關於服務方面的問題。你們的系統業務今年成長非常強勁。這是否意味著隨著這些系統保固期的結束，我們未來一到一年內應該會看到貴公司服務業務出現更強勁的成長？

Well, I'll say the objective of the company, as we said many, many times, is to grow the service business, the spares and service and upgrades business faster than we do the installed base. And you're right to say there are warranties. And so when warranty periods end, you roll into that space and we try to position for very, very strong market share and sustainability. So I would tend to lean towards a very positive answer to your question.

嗯，正如我們多次說過的那樣，公司的目標是讓服務業務、備件和服務以及升級業務的成長速度超過我們現有設備數量的成長速度。你說得對，確實有保固。因此，當保固期結束時，我們就進入這個市場，努力爭取非常非常強大的市場份額和永續發展。所以我傾向於對你的問題給出非常肯定的答案。

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

接下來，我們將回答來自摩根大通的哈蘭·蘇爾提出的問題。

Congratulations on the well-executed quarter and the outstanding performance in 2017. You guys have given great leverage on the OpEx with the scale and the revenue growth. If we assume that WFE is sustainable above $40 billion, $45 billion-plus kind of going forward, it seems like 28% to 30% op margin plus or minus being sustainable? So more and more investors are focused on free cash flow and free cash flow margin. So how should we think about the sustainable free cash flow margins at, say, the 28% to 30% operating margin level?

恭喜貴公司本季業績出色，並恭喜貴公司在 2017 年取得優異成績。你們透過規模和收入成長，在營運支出方面取得了巨大的優勢。如果我們假設WFE未來能夠持續獲利400億美元以上，甚至450億美元以上，那麼28%到30%的營業利潤率似乎是可以維持的？因此，越來越多的投資者開始關注自由現金流和自由現金流利潤率。那麼，我們該如何看待28%到30%的營業利潤率水準下的可持續自由現金流利潤率呢？

Yes. Harlan, we're front-running an update to the model, which we'll give you in early March. But generally speaking, we would expect operating cash flow to be close to operating income. Now if you look at what happened in the last year, the business grew so rapidly that we actually did less well than that because the consumption of working capital, as the business scaled up, we needed to build more inventory, receivables grew along with the level of revenue. So we didn't do quite as well as that. But on an ongoing basis, assuming kind of a steady state of business, shipments and revenue, that's about where we should be. Our CapEx is nominally 3% to 4% of revenue. So that's your free cash flow answer there.

是的。哈蘭，我們正在搶先對模型進行更新，我們將在三月初給你。但總的來說，我們預期經營現金流將接近經營收入。現在，如果你看看去年發生的事情，業務成長如此之快，以至於我們的實際業績反而不如預期，因為隨著業務規模的擴大，營運資金的消耗也隨之增加，我們需要建立更多的庫存，應收帳款也隨著收入水平的增長而增長。所以，我們做得沒有那麼好。但從長遠來看，假設業務、出貨量和收入保持穩定，那應該就是我們目前的狀況。我們的資本支出名義上佔收入的 3% 到 4%。這就是你的自由現金流問題的答案。

Got it. And shipments are up 40% in December

知道了。12月份出貨量成長了40%。

(technical difficulty)

（技術難題）

versus the year ago quarter

與去年同期相比

(technical difficulty)

（技術難題）

versus 2 years ago. They'll be up strongly again in March. Obviously, my congrats to the operations, logistics and manufacturing teams. But just given the significant strength in the

與兩年前相比。他們三月會再次強勢反彈。當然，我要祝賀營運、物流和製造團隊。但鑑於其顯著優勢

(technical difficulty)

（技術難題）

are customer lead times increasing, and any way to quantify the increase?

顧客的交貨週期是否在增加？有沒有辦法量化這種增加？

Yes, there's a way to quantify everything, but we don't disclose lead times for obvious competitive reasons and respect for the road maps of our customers. But what I will tell you is obviously, it takes a lot of work to do what we're doing. It's much more difficult. And I think for an industry, I think we've -- for those of us that have participated in the scale of growth that we have, we've all been very challenged by that scale of growth. But I would say that from a benchmarking perspective, as best I can tell, which is why I spoke to kind of flexible business model and commitment from employees in my prepared comments, we've executed as well, if not better, than most or maybe all. So it's a big focus. It gets more difficult. And certainly, 50% growth here, which is quite extraordinary, challenges for operations and also field resources.

是的，雖然有辦法量化一切，但出於顯而易見的競爭原因以及對客戶發展路線圖的尊重，我們不會透露交付週期。但我可以告訴你的是，很顯然，做我們正在做的事情需要付出很多努力。這要困難得多。我認為對於一個產業來說，對於我們這些參與如此大規模成長的人來說，我們都受到了這種規模成長的巨大挑戰。但我想說，從標竿企業的角度來看，就我所知（這也是我在準備好的發言中談到靈活的商業模式和員工的承諾的原因），我們的執行情況即使不是比大多數企業更好，也可能比所有企業都好。所以這是我們重點關注的領域。情況會變得更難。當然，50% 的成長是相當驚人的，這對營運和現場資源來說都是挑戰。

I'm always amazed, Harlan, when I sit through the quarterly business reviews with the supply chain, the global operations team as well as the field just how well they're executing. It's been actually quite amazing when you see how it's all happened.

哈蘭，每次我和供應鏈、全球營運團隊以及第一線團隊一起參加季度業務回顧會議時，我都會對他們的執行力感到驚訝。當你看到這一切是如何發生的，你會覺得非常不可思議。

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

接下來，我們將回答來自德意志銀行的 Sidney Ho 提出的問題。

My question is -- the first question is on DRAM. There has been a lot of chatter that the strong DRAM that the market expects and what you alluded to for next year could be because of capital intensity of DRAM going up but it could also be yield sub-optimal. What is your view on that?

我的問題——第一個問題是關於DRAM的。有許多傳言說，市場預期的強勁 DRAM 表現，以及你提到的明年 DRAM 的強勁表​​現，可能是因為 DRAM 的資本密集度上升，但也可能是因為收益率不理想。你對此有何看法？

Our basic view is I don't think customers spend money if a yield is sub-optimal. I think that's a very important kind of test for them, making their investments. And I guess that's all relative. I mean, we have characterized obviously today that the relative investments the industry has to make are a little higher for a bit out in the context of the technology conversions that are playing out today and this year compared to last year and the year before. But I would also make the point that it's still an investment that is dominated by conversion and it is still an investment that is made with extraordinary discipline by our customers managing supply and demand balance. And I would also say that the capital intensity data point is actually a lot less than the points in history that have triggered kind of corrections. So I think if you look at kind of memory today, the capital intensity for the last 4 years, including the outlook for calendar '18, is not even 2/3 of the levels seen in 2007. So it's a dramatically different profile of risk.

我們的基本觀點是，如果收益率不理想，我認為顧客不會花錢。我認為這對他們來說是一種非常重要的考驗，考驗他們是否在進行投資。我想這一切都是相對的。我的意思是，我們今天已經清楚地表明，與去年和前年相比，鑑於當前和今年正在進行的技術轉型，該行業需要進行的相對投資要高一些。但我還要指出，這仍然是一項以轉換率為主的投資，而且仍然是一項需要我們的客戶以非凡的自律精神來管理供需平衡的投資。而且我還想說，目前的資本密集度數據點其實遠低於歷史上引發某種調整的那些點。所以我認為，如果你回顧一下今天的記憶，過去 4 年的資本密集度，包括對 2018 年的展望，甚至不到 2007 年水準的 2/3。所以風險特徵截然不同。

Okay, that's helpful. My follow-up question is if you look at your forecast for WFE, what are some of the biggest swing factors in your forecast that can move your -- move above or below your forecast of low teens? Just want to see if I can get something out of you to be more precisely wrong.

好的，這很有幫助。我的後續問題是，如果您查看您對 WFE 的預測，您預測中哪些最大的波動因素會導致您的預測值高於或低於您預測的十幾個百分點？我只是想看看能不能從你口中套出點什麼，好讓我更準確地證明自己是錯的。

No, Sidney, I appreciate that and good luck with that. Well, I mean, macro positive, negative is always there and always will be. This is a pretty extraordinary time for the industry, I think holistically, because there's an irony here of consolidated participants and a diversified kind of statement of demand. So I guess maybe more difficult, not more easy to forecast the future at a device demand level. You have an industry that is, I think, singularly invested in trying to take advantage of this opportunity and contribute to broader tech economy and broader innovation. So it's all about creating incremental demand and the memory storage, data center, AI, big data, analytics, advanced process. I mean, it's all relevant, right. I mean, we live in a world where devices and silicon that support connectivity are critical to the road map, devices that create the capacity to store efficiently and cost-effectively. All that collected data are critical. And the high performance computing that is relevant to take all of that data and do something with it that creates value either in an enterprise or in a consumer context has to kind of show up. So I think it's a very integrated system, which is perhaps why I answer the question maybe less precisely than you would like me to because I think we live in a world where this much less about discrete segments of a semiconductor industry as we traditionally described it and much more about the integration of technologies in -- from a chip integration point of view, from an embedded memory and logic solutions perspective. We live in a world of systems design, systems architecture, and it all has to be there and all is part of answering this question around incremental opportunity or incremental risk.

不，西德尼，我很感激，祝你好運。我的意思是，宏觀層面有利有弊，但負面因素總是存在，而且永遠都會存在。我認為，從整體來看，這對整個產業來說是一個非常特殊的時期，因為這裡存在著一種諷刺的現象：參與者趨於集中，而需求卻呈現出多元化的狀態。所以我覺得，在設備需求層面預測未來可能更難，而不是更容易。我認為，你們所在的行業正全力以赴地抓住這個機會，為更廣泛的科技經濟和更廣泛的創新做出貢獻。所以一切都圍繞著創造增量需求以及記憶體儲存、資料中心、人工智慧、大數據、分析、進階流程。我的意思是，這一切都是相關的，對吧。我的意思是，我們生活在一個支援連接的設備和矽晶片對發展路線圖至關重要的世界裡，這些設備創造了高效且經濟地儲存資料的能力。所有收集到的數據都至關重要。而能夠處理所有這些數據並利用這些數據在企業或消費者環境中創造價值的高效能運算，必須出現。所以我認為這是一個高度整合的系統，這或許就是為什麼我的回答可能不如你希望的那樣精確，因為我認為我們生活在一個不再像傳統意義上描述的那樣關注半導體行業的各個離散部分，而是更多地關注技術集成的世界——從晶片集成的角度來看，從嵌入式存儲器和邏輯解決方案的角度來看。我們生活在一個系統設計、系統架構的世界裡，這一切都必須存在，而這一切都是為了回答關於增量機會或增量風險的問題。

We'll take our next question from Craig Ellis with B. Riley.

接下來，我們將由B. Riley回答Craig Ellis提出的問題。

Martin, I appreciate the comments on the positioning for 2018's Memory spending and DRAM starting to catch up and balance with NAND. Could you extend your view a little bit further and comment on maybe the multi-year trend for DRAM? I know the company's typically been comfortable talking about longer term, such as your 5-year NAND spending view. So could you give us a longer-term look with what you see at DRAM?

Martin，我感謝你對 2018 年記憶體支出定位的評論，以及 DRAM 開始趕上並與 NAND 達到平衡的情況。能否進一步拓展視野，談談DRAM多年的發展趨勢？我知道該公司通常樂於談論長期發展，例如您對未來 5 年 NAND 支出的看法。那麼，您能否從更長遠的角度，談談您對DRAM的看法？

I thought you started with NAND and you ended with DRAM. Did I...

我以為你們是從NAND快閃記憶體開始，最後發展到DRAM的。我是否…

It kind of moved around.

它有點移動。

Which one did you want to talk about?

你想談哪一個？

DRAM. NAND was simply used as an example of what the company's done in the past for a longer term view.

DRAM。此處僅以 NAND 為例，說明該公司過去為實現長期目標所做的努力。

I mean, the first thing I would say, it's a content story, not a unit story. I don't think we're going to stand up and say, "Hey, we've got this great view that all of a sudden, PC units and cellphone units take off again," because I don't think that's the headline. It's all about content and there are 2 drivers of bit growth in DRAM. One of them is the server, which is the most comprehensive demand driver, and the second is expansion of phone content. And we are, I would say -- I'd probably be stronger than conservatively optimistic. I'd say we are optimistic about those long-term trends, and we think they're fundamental to answering the questions about investment in silicon capacity and the investment that we make in our business.

我的意思是，首先我要說的是，這是一個內容故事，而不是一個單元故事。我不認為我們會站出來說：“嘿，我們看到了一個絕佳的景象，那就是個人電腦和手機銷量突然又開始飆升了”，因為我認為這不是新聞標題。一切都與內容有關，DRAM 位元成長有兩個驅動因素。其中之一是伺服器，它是最全面的需求驅動因素；其次是手機內容的擴展。而且，我認為──我可能會比保守樂觀還要樂觀。我認為我們對這些長期趨勢持樂觀態度，我們認為這些趨勢對於回答有關矽產能投資和我們在業務投資的問題至關重要。

That's helpful. And then the follow-up, I'll shoot it over to Doug. Doug, as you look at the company and the flexibility that you have now with cash, can you talk about what that means for debt levels and capital structure and if we should expect that debt would stay at current levels or if there's potential for whatever reason for debt to rise from here as a percent of your capital structure?

那很有幫助。然後，我會把後續問題寄給道格。道格，從你對公司現狀以及目前現金流的靈活性來看，你能談談這對債務水準和資本結構意味著什麼嗎？我們是否應該預期債務會維持在目前的水平，或者由於某種原因，債務佔資本結構的比例是否有可能上升？

Yes, Craig. Craig, I'm going to decline to answer that one, but I will promise you that when we get to the March Analyst Day, we'll have lots more to tell you. As you might appreciate it, all the tax changes are kind of late- breaking. We're talking internally about it, debating some things. We'll have more to tell you in early March. So I'm going to punt on this one for now.

是的，克雷格。克雷格，這個問題我暫時不回答，但我可以向你保證，到了三月的分析師日，我們會告訴你更多。您可能已經意識到，所有稅收政策的變化都來得比較晚。我們正在內部討論這件事，辯論一些問題。三月初我們會公佈更多資訊。所以，我暫時先擱置這個問題。

Can I take a swing in another one then?

那我還能再試一次嗎？

Yes, go ahead.

好的，請繼續。

Okay. I'll pop it back to Martin. Martin, this is more of a -- maybe I'll have better success, more of a qualitative question. I'm interested in knowing the degree to which your discussions with customers have changed over the last few years as capital intensity has stepped up dramatically and as there's more signs that industry is on a steadier growth profile rather than boom-bust. What's changed with the duration of the discussion, the way that you may be collaborating across different types of technologies, et cetera?

好的。我把它還給馬丁。馬丁，這更像是一個——也許我會取得更好的成功——更偏向定性問題。我想了解，隨著資本密集度的大幅提高，以及越來越多的跡象表明行業正處於更加穩定的增長狀態而不是繁榮-蕭條的周期，在過去幾年裡，您與客戶的討論發生了多大變化。隨著討論時間的延長，你們在不同類型的技術之間進行協作的方式發生了哪些變化等等？

Yes, I mean, I actually that last kind of sub-question is actually a great response. I mean, the scale and scope of technical challenges and business challenges for everybody in this eco-system is much more difficult today than was true 5 years ago. And the companies that, I think, excel and sustain in the long term have attributes of partnership and collaboration and co-dependency that are quite fundamental. And that's why almost every single quarter, I say something like culture and values because that's a fundamental element of competitive differentiation. If you are not trusted, if you are not legitimately collaborative, if you're not sincerely invested in the success of your customers, then your opportunity to sustain your business is limited.

是的，我的意思是，實際上最後一個子問題是一個很好的回答。我的意思是，如今這個生態系統中每個人面臨的技術挑戰和業務挑戰的規模和範圍，比 5 年前要大得多。我認為，那些能夠長期發展並取得成功的公司，都具備夥伴關係、合作和相互依賴等非常基本的特質。正因為如此，我幾乎每季都會談到文化和價值觀，因為這是競爭差異化的基本要素。如果你得不到信任，如果你不能真正地與人合作，如果你沒有真心實意地投入到客戶的成功中，那麼你維持業務發展的機會就是有限的。

And that does conclude our question-and-answer session for today. I would like to turn the conference back over to Satya for any additional or closing remarks.

今天的問答環節到此結束。我謹將會議交還給薩蒂亞，請他作補充或總結發言。

Yes. Thank you once again for joining us, and we look forward to seeing you at our March Analyst Day in New York. We'll be sending you more details shortly on that. Thank you.

是的。再次感謝您的參與，我們期待在三月於紐約舉行的分析師日上與您見面。稍後我們會向您發送更多詳細資訊。謝謝。

And once again, that concludes today's presentation. We thank you all for your participation, and you may now disconnect.

今天的演講到此結束。感謝各位的參與，現在可以斷開連結了。