美光科技 (MU) 2021 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon. My name is Latif, and I will be your conference facilitator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to Micron's Second Quarter 2021 Financial Release Conference Call. (Operator Instructions). It is now my pleasure to turn the floor over to your host, Farhan Ahmad, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin your conference.

午安.我是拉蒂夫，今天將擔任本次會議的主持人。現在，我謹代表美光科技，歡迎各位參加2021財年第二季財務報告電話會議。 （操作說明）接下來，我將把發言權交給本次會議的主持人，投資者關係副總裁法爾漢·艾哈邁德先生。會議可以開始了。

Thank you, and welcome to Micron Technologies Fiscal Second Quarter 2021 Financial Conference Call. On the call with me today are Sanjay Mehrotra, President and CEO; and Dave Zinsner, Chief Financial Officer. Today's call will be approximately 60 minutes in length. This call, including the audio and slides, is also being webcast from our Investor Relations website at investors.micron.com. In addition, our website contains the earnings press release and the prepared remarks filed a short while ago.

謝謝，歡迎參加美光科技2021財年第二季財務電話會議。今天與我一同出席會議的有總裁兼執行長Sanjay Mehrotra先生和財務長Dave Zinsner先生。本次電話會議時長約60分鐘。本次會議的音訊和幻燈片將透過投資者關係網站investors.micron.com進行網路直播。此外，我們的網站上也發布了收益新聞稿和不久前發布的準備好的發言稿。

Today's discussion of financial results will be presented on a non-GAAP financial basis unless otherwise specified. A reconciliation of the GAAP to non-GAAP financial measures can be found on our website. As a reminder, a webcast replay will be available on our website later today. We encourage you to monitor our website at micron.com throughout the quarter for the most current information on the company, including information on the various financial conferences that we will be attending. You can follow us on Twitter, @MicronTech.

除非另有說明，今天的財務業績討論將以非公認會計準則（非GAAP）財務數據呈現。您可以在我們的網站上找到GAAP與非GAAP財務指標的調節表。提醒您，網路直播回放將於今日稍後在我們的網站上提供。我們鼓勵您在本季度持續關注micron.com網站，以獲取公司最新信息，包括我們將參加的各類金融會議的相關信息。您也可以在Twitter上關注我們，帳號為@MicronTech。

As a reminder, the matters we will be discussing today include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from the statements made today. We refer you to the documents we filed with the SEC, specifically our most recent Form 10-K and 10-Q for a discussion of risks that may affect our future results. Although we believe the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. We are under no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements after today's date to conform these statements to actual results.

再次提醒，我們今天討論的事項包含前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受風險和不確定性因素的影響，可能導致實際結果與今天所作陳述有重大差異。請參閱我們向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的文件，特別是我們最新的10-K表和10-Q表，其中討論了可能影響我們未來業績的風險。儘管我們認為前瞻性陳述中反映的預期是合理的，但我們無法保證未來的績效、活動水準、表現或成就。我們沒有義務在今天之後更新任何前瞻性陳述，使其與實際結果相符。

I'll now turn the call over to Sanjay.

現在我將把電話交給桑傑。

Thank you, Farhan. Micron delivered strong F Q2 results above our original projections, driven by solid execution and higher-than-expected demand across multiple end markets. The DRAM market is in severe shortage and the NAND market is showing signs of stabilization in the near term. The execution from the Micron team and these (inaudible) conditions enabled us to set revenue records for mobile MCPs and automotive products and to reach normal levels of inventory ahead of schedule.

謝謝法爾漢。美光第二季業績強勁，超越我們最初的預期，這得益於穩健的執行以及多個終端市場超出預期的需求。 DRAM市場嚴重短缺，而NAND市場短期內呈現穩定跡象。美光團隊的出色執行以及這些有利的市場環境，使我們移動微控制器和汽車產品營收創下新紀錄，並提前恢復了正常的庫存水平。

Following last quarter's introduction of 176 layer NAND into volume production, in F Q2, we began volume production on our 1-alpha DRAM node, solidifying our technology leadership in both DRAM and NAND. We are in an excellent position to capitalize on the strong demand for memory and storage, driven by artificial intelligence and 5G across the data center, the intelligent edge and user devices.

繼上季176層NAND快閃記憶體實現量產後，我們在第二季也開始量產1-alpha DRAM工藝，進一步鞏固了我們在DRAM和NAND快閃記憶體領域的技術領先地位。人工智慧和5G技術在資料中心、智慧邊緣和用戶設備等領域推動了對記憶體和儲存設備的強勁需求，我們已做好充分準備，把握這一機會。

I'll start with an update on our operations. The Micron team is doing everything we can to meet customer demand despite the challenges of the pandemic, NAND memory component shortages in the electronics industry and disruptions that occurred in our Taiwan fabs in December. We are confident that our COVID-19 safety protocols will allow us to continue at full production levels and we are encouraged to see vaccines become increasingly available around the world.

首先，我將報告我們的營運情況。儘管面臨疫情、電子產業NAND快閃元件短缺以及12月份台灣工廠生產中斷等諸多挑戰，美光團隊仍在盡力滿足客戶需求。我們相信，我們的新冠肺炎安全防護措施將確保我們能夠繼續保持滿載生產，同時我們也欣喜地看到疫苗在全球範圍內的供應日益充足。

Micron has been able to mitigate the impact of broad electronics industry shortages to our production output through our proactive supply chain and inventory management strategies. Investments made over the last several years in facilities infrastructure allowed us to minimize lost output caused by the power outage and earthquake at our Taiwan operations in December. Recently, due to the drought in Central Taiwan, there has been a reduction in the water supply for one of our DRAM fab sites. To mitigate the water shortage, we are accelerating our water conservation efforts and have secured alternative sources of water. At this time, we do not see an impact to DRAM production output. However, this is a developing situation that we are monitoring closely for the next several months.

美光透過積極主動的供應鏈和庫存管理策略，有效減輕了電子產業整體短缺對我們生產的影響。過去幾年對工廠基礎設施的投資，使我們能夠最大限度地減少去年12月台灣工廠因停電和地震造成的產量損失。近期，由於台灣中部地區遭遇乾旱，我們其中一間DRAM工廠的供水量減少。為緩解缺水問題，我們正在加快節水工作，並已找到替代水源。目前，我們預計DRAM產量不會受到影響。但這是一個不斷發展的局面，我們將在未來幾個月密切關注事態發展。

Now turning to technology and products. We continue to make solid progress on our key goals. First, to deliver industry-leading technology and improve our cost structure; second, to bring differentiated products to market and improve our product mix; and third, to grow our share of industry profits while maintaining stable bit share. I'm proud to report that Micron was one of the top 20 U.S. patent registrants in 2020. This achievement attests to the brilliant innovation of our teams and is proof of the tenacious focus we have placed on technology and product leadership over the past several years.

現在談談技術和產品。我們在關鍵目標方面持續取得穩步進展。首先，我們將致力於提供業界領先的技術並優化成本結構；其次，我們將推出差異化產品並優化產品組合；第三，我們將在維持市場份額穩定的同時，提升產業利潤份額。我榮幸地宣布，美光科技在2020年名列美國專利註冊量前20強。這項成就充分證明了我們團隊卓越的創新能力，也印證了我們過去幾年在技術和產品領先地位方面所堅持不懈的努力。

Our industry-leading 1-alpha DRAM and 176-layer NAND nodes are in volume production and are ramping on plan. We expect these nodes to be our workhorse for fiscal year '22, fueling our bit growth and contributing to our long-term cost-reduction goals. Across both DRAM and NAND, we target our long-term cost reductions that are in line with the industry.

我們業界領先的 1-alpha DRAM 和 176 層 NAND 快閃記憶體節點已實現量產，並正按計畫逐步提升產能。我們預計這些節點將成為 2022 財年的主力產品，推動我們的比特成長，並協助我們實現長期成本降低目標。 DRAM 和 NAND 快閃記憶體的長期成本降低目標均與產業平均值保持一致。

In products, Micron is on track to support customers as they begin to introduce DDR5 in the fiscal second half of 2021. We are also driving an increased mix of QLC NAND, which helps to make SSDs more cost-effective and accelerates the replacement of HDDs with SSDS. QLC SSD adoption continues to grow, and we achieved a record high QLC bit mix in F Q2.

在產品方面，美光正按計畫支援客戶在2021財年下半年開始引進DDR5記憶體。我們也積極推動QLC NAND快閃記憶體的普及，這有助於降低固態硬碟的成本效益，並加速固態硬碟取代機械硬碟的進程。 QLC固態硬碟的採用率持續成長，我們在第二財季實現了QLC快閃記憶體佔比的歷史新高。

Earlier this month, Micron took a decisive step to exit 3D XPoint development and manufacturing. As mentioned on our recent 3D XPoint update call, Micron is prioritizing investment toward other memory solutions that use the Compute Express Link, or CXL, and we're excited about addressing this market opportunity with differentiated products. Most of the R&D teams previously working on 3D XPoint have already been transitioned to other programs, including accelerating introduction of CXL-enabled memory products. This change will allow Micron to better address future needs of our data center customers and also drive higher ROI and shareholder value.

本月初，美光科技果斷退出了3D XPoint的研發與生產。正如我們在近期3D XPoint更新電話會議上所提到的，美光科技正優先投資於其他採用Compute Express Link（CXL）技術的記憶體解決方案，我們很高興能夠透過差異化產品抓住這一市場機會。先前參與3D XPoint研發的大部分團隊已轉職至其他項目，包括加速推出支援CXL技術的記憶體產品。這項調整將使美光科技更能滿足資料中心客戶的未來需求，並提升投資報酬率和股東價值。

We are running an open process to identify the best acquirer for the Lehigh fab, which provides an excellent location for advanced foundry, logic and analog semiconductor manufacturing and expect to finalize the sale within calendar 2021. We anticipate that the overwhelming majority of the highly skilled Lehigh manufacturing team will find strong career opportunities with the buyer.

我們正在公開尋找利哈伊晶圓廠的最佳收購者。晶圓廠地理位置優越，是先進晶圓代工、邏輯和模擬半導體製造的理想場所。我們預計在2021年內完成交易。我們預計，利哈伊晶圓廠絕大多數技術精湛的製造團隊成員將在收購方獲得良好的職涯發展機會。

Turning to end markets. In data center, AI and data-centric workloads will drive long-term growth with memory and storage becoming an increasing portion of server BOM costs. Micron is positioned for success in this market with a broad portfolio of high-quality and power-efficient products. Enterprise demand, which had been anemic for the last few quarters, is starting to improve as IT budgets increase in anticipation of economic recovery. Enterprise DRAM bit shipments grew sharply quarter-over-quarter, but were still down year-over-year. Cloud DRAM bit shipments also grew quarter-over-quarter and we anticipate robust demand from U.S. hyperscale customers, especially as we enter the second half of calendar 2021.

轉向終端市場。在資料中心領域，人工智慧和以資料為中心的工作負載將推動長期成長，記憶體和儲存將在伺服器物料清單成本中佔據越來越大的比例。美光憑藉其豐富的高品質、高能源效率產品組合，已做好在該市場取得成功的準備。過去幾季企業需求疲軟，但隨著企業預期經濟復甦而增加IT預算，需求開始回升。企業級DRAM位出貨量較上季大幅成長，但仍較去年同期下降。雲端DRAM位出貨量也較上季成長，我們預期美國超大規模客戶的需求將十分強勁，尤其是在2021年下半年。

In data center SSDS, revenue declined sequentially as customers in certain segments reduced their higher-than-average inventory levels. We are continuing to expand our data center NVMe SSD portfolio with internally developed controllers and have new product introductions planned in the coming quarters.

在資料中心固態硬碟（SSD）領域，由於部分細分市場的客戶降低了高於平均的庫存，收入環比下降。我們正持續拓展資料中心NVMe SSD產品組合，採用自主研發的控制器，並計劃在未來幾季推出新產品。

In PC, we continue to benefit from the remote work and learning trends that drove healthy notebook and Chromebook demand in fiscal Q2. Micron delivered record PC DRAM bit shipments despite pockets of NAND memory component shortages experienced in the PC OEM supply chain. We also began sampling 1-alpha based DDR4 products.

在PC領域，我們繼續受益於遠距辦公和學習趨勢，這些趨勢推動了第二財季筆記型電腦和Chromebook的強勁需求。儘管PC OEM供應鏈中部分地區出現NAND快閃記憶體組件短缺，但美光仍實現了創紀錄的PC DRAM位級出貨量。此外，我們也開始提供基於1-alpha架構的DDR4產品的樣品。

In client SSDs, we are on track to begin customer qualification of our next-generation client SSDs using 176-layer NAND in the fiscal second half of 2021. By the end of calendar 2021, we expect to cover multiple segments of the market, including consumer, value OEM and premium OEM with our 176-layer-based client portfolio. In graphics, revenue declined quarter-over-quarter from an exceptional fiscal first quarter, which benefited from the launch of new gaming consoles. Nevertheless, fiscal second quarter revenue grew significantly year-over-year. Micron has an excellent position in this market with a broad product portfolio and deep customer partnerships.

在客戶端固態硬碟 (SSD) 領域，我們正按計畫推進，將於 2021 財年下半年開始對採用 176 層 NAND 快閃記憶體的下一代用戶端 SSD 進行客戶認證。到 2021 年底，我們預計基於 176 層 NAND 快閃記憶體的客戶產品組合將涵蓋多個細分市場，包括消費級、入門級 OEM 和高階 OEM 市場。在圖形業務方面，由於第一財季受益於新遊戲主機的發布，營收環比有所下降。儘管如此，第二財季營收仍實現了顯著的同比增長。憑藉豐富的產品組合和深厚的客戶合作關係，美光在該市場佔據了有利地位。

In mobile, revenue grew 21% sequentially, driven by strong execution, coupled with better than seasonal demand due to continuing recovery in smartphone volumes. We achieved record MCP revenue and nearly tripled our LP5 revenue sequentially. We have also begun sampling the industry's first 1-alpha LP DRAM and 176-layer NAND with mobile customers. Smartphone unit sales in China have been robust and 5G momentum is continuing.

在行動業務方面，得益於強勁的執行力以及智慧型手機銷售持續復甦帶來的超預期需求，營收季增21%。我們實現了MCP營收的歷史新高，LP5營收季增近三倍。此外，我們已開始向行動客戶提供業界首款1-alpha LP DRAM和176層NAND快閃記憶體的樣品。中國智慧型手機銷售表現強勁，5G發展勢頭持續強勁。

In auto, we delivered a second consecutive record revenue quarter as auto manufacturing recovers around the globe and as memory and storage content per vehicle continues to grow. We have more demand than we can supply, and we are working diligently with our customers to address their memory and storage needs. We are also advancing our product portfolio targeted for automotive applications. In F Q2, we completed qualification of our auto grade LP5 and began sampling the industry's first automotive LP5 that is hardware-evaluated to meet the most stringent automotive safety integrity level, FLD.

在汽車領域，隨著全球汽車製造業的復甦以及單車記憶體和儲存容量的持續成長，我們連續第二季創下營收新高。目前市場需求遠超供應，我們正與客戶緊密合作，努力滿足他們的記憶體和儲存需求。同時，我們也積極推動以汽車應用為導向的產品組合。在第二財季，我們完成了車規級LP5的認證，並開始對業界首款經過硬體評估、符合最嚴格的汽車安全完整性等級FLD的車規級LP5進行樣品測試。

Turning to the market outlook. Calendar 2021 is shaping up to be a solid year and our overall outlook across DRAM and NAND has improved since our last earnings call, with broad strength across nearly all end markets. The pandemic has driven changes in our economy that we believe will not only benefit us this year, but also serve to accelerate the digital transformation of the economy and drive new opportunities for Micron. Recovery from the pandemic and pent-up demand are expected to drive strong demand growth in markets such as enterprise, cloud, desktop PCS, mobile, auto and industrial.

展望市場前景。 2021年預計將是穩健的一年，自上次財報電話會議以來，我們對DRAM和NAND的整體展望有所改善，幾乎所有終端市場都呈現強勁增長勢頭。疫情推動了經濟變革，我們相信這些變革不僅將使我們今年受益，還將加速經濟的數位轉型，並為美光帶來新的機會。疫情後的復甦和被壓抑的需求預計將推動企業、雲端、桌上型電腦、行動、汽車和工業等市場需求的強勁成長。

Data center demand is expected to be strong in calendar 2021, particularly in the second half of the calendar year due to a combination of factors. First, enterprise demand has started to come back as the economy recovers and is expected to further strengthen through the calendar year. Second, our opportunity at cloud service providers will continue to strengthen through calendar '21, driven by robust demand for their solutions and offerings, as well as secular growth in the AI and data-centric workloads. And finally, the introduction of new CPUs will support more memory channels and higher density modules, contributing to increases in server memory content across both cloud and enterprise.

受多種因素影響，預計2021年資料中心需求將保持強勁，尤其是在下半年。首先，隨著經濟復甦，企業需求已開始回升，預計全年將進一步增強。其次，受市場對其解決方案和產品的強勁需求，以及人工智慧和資料密集型工作負載的持續成長的推動，我們在雲端服務供應商領域的機會將在2021年持續增強。最後，新型CPU的推出將支援更多記憶體通道和更高密度的記憶體模組，從而推動雲端和企業伺服器記憶體容量的成長。

Forecast for calendar 2021 PC unit sales have increased from 3 months ago and are expected to approach an average of 1 million units per day. There is robust demand in notebook PCs, especially Chromebooks. We also expect the desktop market to improve as workers gradually return to the office this year. Mobile unit sales are expected to show robust growth this year and we also expect to benefit from higher content in 5G phones, which are forecast to double in calendar 2021 to more than 500 million units. Auto unit sales are expected to grow significantly from last year, while secular memory and storage content growth trends remain strong as EVs proliferate. The strong demand across various end markets, combined with disruptions at certain logic and foundry semiconductor producers, has resulted in a shortage of these non-memory ICs for our customers and we believe memory demand would have been even greater without these shortages.

2021年個人電腦銷售預測較三個月前成長，預計將接近日均100萬台。筆記型電腦，尤其是Chromebook，需求強勁。隨著員工今年逐步返回辦公室，我們預計桌上型電腦市場也將有所改善。行動裝置銷售量預計今年將呈現強勁成長，同時，5G手機的普及也將帶來成長，預計2021年5G手機銷量將翻一番，超過5億支。汽車銷售量預計將較去年顯著成長，而隨著電動車的普及，記憶體和記憶體晶片的長期成長趨勢依然強勁。各終端市場的強勁需求，加上部分邏輯晶片和代工半導體生產商的供應中斷，導致我們的客戶面臨非記憶體晶片短缺的問題。我們認為，如果沒有這些短缺，記憶體晶片的需求將會更大。

In DRAM, due to the stronger demand, we now expect calendar 2021 bit growth at 20%, above our prior forecast of high teens. This growth builds on calendar 2020 bit growth, which was in the lower 20s percent range. As a result of disciplined CapEx investments since the start of the pandemic, we expect industry DRAM supply to be below demand. As a result of the strong demand and limited supply, the DRAM market is currently facing a severe undersupply, which is causing DRAM prices to increase rapidly. We see the DRAM market tightening further through the year.

由於需求強勁，我們預計2021年DRAM位元容量成長率將達到20%，高於先前預測的十幾個百分點。這一增長建立在2020年位元容量成長率（20%左右）的基礎上。自疫情爆發以來，業界一直保持著穩健的資本支出，因此我們預期DRAM供應將低於需求。由於需求旺盛而供應有限，DRAM市場目前面臨嚴重的供不應求，導致DRAM價格快速上漲。我們預計DRAM市場供應將在今年進一步趨緊。

In NAND, we now expect calendar 2021 bit growth to be in the low to mid-30% range, above our prior expectation of 30%. While we are seeing stabilization in near-term pricing, the elevated levels of industry CapEx are a cause for concern, and more CapEx cuts are needed to allow for healthy NAND industry profitability. Long term, we expect a DRAM bit demand growth CAGR of mid-to-high teens and a NAND bit demand growth CAGR of approximately 30%.

在NAND快閃記憶體領域，我們現在預計2021年全年位需求成長率將在30%左右，高於先前30%的預期。雖然短期價格趨於穩定，但業界高企的資本支出水準令人擔憂，需要進一步削減資本支出才能確保NAND快閃記憶體產業實現健康的獲利能力。長期來看，我們預期DRAM位元需求複合年增長率將達到15%至10%左右，而NAND快閃記憶體位需求複合年增長率約為30%。

Turning to Micron supply. We target our long-term bit supply growth CAGR to be in line with the industry bit demand growth CAGR for both DRAM and NAND. However, there can be year-to-year variability caused by node transition timing. In both DRAM and NAND, we expect our calendar 2021 bit supply growth to be below the industry demand growth and we have used our inventory to add to our bit shipment growth this year. We are targeting fiscal 2021 CapEx to be approximately $9 billion to support our long-term goal of maintaining a stable share of industry bit supply.

接下來談談美光的供應情況。我們的目標是使長期位級供應成長複合年增長率與DRAM和NAND快閃記憶體的產業位級需求成長複合年增長率保持一致。然而，由於製程節點轉換時間的影響，可能會出現年度波動。我們預計2021年DRAM和NAND快閃記憶體的位級供應成長將低於產業需求成長，並且我們已利用庫存來增加今年的位級出貨量。我們計劃2021財年的資本支出約為90億美元，以支持我們維持產業位級供應穩定份額的長期目標。

I will now turn it over to Dave.

現在我把麥克風交給戴夫。

Thanks, Sanjay. Micron delivered very strong fiscal second quarter results with solid revenue growth, margin expansion and positive free cash flow. Market conditions improved throughout the quarter, and DRAM and NAND volumes as well as DRAM pricing were above our original expectations. Before discussing the details of our fiscal second quarter results, I want to discuss the financial impact of our decision to cease 3D XPoint development and manufacturing.

謝謝，Sanjay。美光第二財季業績表現強勁，營收穩定成長，利潤率提升，自由現金流為正。整個季度市場環境持續改善，DRAM 和 NAND 的銷售以及 DRAM 的價格均超出我們最初的預期。在詳細討論第二財季業績之前，我想先談談我們停止 3D XPoint 研發和生產的決定所帶來的財務影響。

As a result of this decision, we wrote off $49 million of 3D XPoint inventory in our F Q2 GAAP financial results. This inventory exceeded our needs to fill customer commitments. We remain committed to fulfilling our customer commitments to manufacture 3D XPoint wafers and currently expect modest revenues consistent with recent history until the end of calendar 2021. Our Lehigh fab was recategorized at the end of F Q2 as held-for-sale on our balance sheet. And beginning in F Q3, depreciation expense for the building and related equipment will stop. As a result, F Q3 gross margins will benefit from approximately $75 million of lower depreciation expense. The remaining costs will continue until the closing of the sale of our 3D XPoint fab in Lehigh, Utah.

由於這項決定，我們在第二財季的GAAP財務表現中註銷了價值4,900萬美元的3D XPoint庫存。該庫存超過了我們履行客戶承諾所需的數量。我們仍致力於履行對客戶的3D XPoint晶圓生產承諾，並預計在2021年底前，營收將與近期水準持平。我們位於利哈伊的工廠已於第二財季末在資產負債表中重新歸類為「持有待售資產」。從第三財季開始，該廠房及相關設備的折舊費用將停止提列。因此，第三財季的毛利率將受惠於約7,500萬美元的折舊費用減少。剩餘成本將持續計提，直至我們位於猶他州利哈伊的3D XPoint工廠的出售交易完成。

As we discussed on our 3D XPoint update call, Micron will continue to maintain our current R&D investment level and redeploy the 3D XPoint R&D teams to work on technologies and products that align with our vision for memory and storage. We have already made progress on this front since our update call.

正如我們在3D XPoint最新進度電話會議上所討論的，美光將繼續維持目前的研發投入水平，並將3D XPoint研發團隊重新部署到符合我們對記憶體和儲存願景的技術和產品研發工作。自上次電話會議以來，我們已在這方面取得了一些進展。

Now moving on to our results for the fiscal second quarter. Total F Q2 revenue was approximately $6.24 billion, up 8% quarter-over-quarter and up 30% year-over-year. We saw solid growth in most of our end markets, notably in the data center, mobile, PC, auto and industrial markets. F Q2 DRAM revenue was $4.4 billion, representing 71% of total revenue. DRAM revenue increased 10% sequentially and was up 44% year-over-year. Bit shipments grew in the high single-digit percentage range sequentially and ASPs were up slightly quarter-over-quarter. F Q2 NAND revenue was approximately $1.7 billion, representing 26% of total revenue. NAND revenue increased 5% sequentially and was up 9% year-over-year. Bit shipments increased in the high single-digit percentage range sequentially, while ASPs declined in the low single-digit percentage range quarter-over-quarter, showing an improvement in trajectory in the NAND pricing environment.

接下來是第二財季的業績。第二財季總營收約62.4億美元，較上季成長8%，較去年同期成長30%。我們的大部分終端市場均實現了穩健成長，尤其是在資料中心、行動裝置、個人電腦、汽車和工業市場。第二財季DRAM營收為44億美元，佔總營收的71%。 DRAM營收季增10%，較去年同期成長44%。位元出貨量較上季成長接近兩位數，平均售價較上季略有上漲。第二財季NAND營收約17億美元，佔總營收的26%。 NAND營收較上季成長5%，較去年同期成長9%。位元出貨量較上季成長接近兩位數，而平均售價較上季下降接近兩位數，顯示NAND定價環境正在改善。

Now turning to our revenue trends by business unit. Revenue for the Compute and Networking Business Unit was approximately $2.6 billion, up approximately 4% sequentially and up 34% year-over-year. Revenue growth was broad-based and driven by a combination of volume and pricing across data center, networking and client. Revenue for the Mobile Business Unit was $1.8 billion, up 21% sequentially and up 44% year-over-year. Mobile demand remains strong as 5G momentum increases and the mobile market continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic. Revenue for the Storage Business Unit was $850 million, down approximately 7% from the prior quarter and down 2% year-over-year. Both SSD revenue and component revenue declined sequentially. We expect our storage revenue to increase as we introduce our 176-layer client SSDs into volume production. And finally, the Embedded Business Unit generated record revenue of $935 million, which was up 16% sequentially and 34% year-over-year, driven by strong industrial demand and record auto revenue as demand recovered from pandemic-related shutdowns.

現在來看看我們各業務部門的營收趨勢。計算與網路業務部門的營收約26億美元，較上季成長約4%，較去年同期成長34%。營收成長全面，主要得益於資料中心、網路和客戶端業務的銷售和價格雙雙上漲。行動業務部門的營收為18億美元，較上季成長21%，較去年同期成長44%。隨著5G發展勢頭增強，行動市場持續從疫情影響中復甦，行動需求依然強勁。儲存業務部門的營收為8.5億美元，季減約7%，年減2%。固態硬碟（SSD）營收和組件營收均季減。我們預計，隨著176層客戶端固態硬碟投入量產，儲存業務營收將有所成長。最後，嵌入式業務部門創造了創紀錄的 9.35 億美元收入，環比增長 16%，同比增長 34%，這主要得益於強勁的工業需求和創紀錄的汽車收入，因為需求已從疫情相關的停工中恢復過來。

The consolidated gross margin for F Q2 was 32.9%, up 200 basis points from the prior quarter. DRAM price increases and cost declines drove the margin expansion in F Q2. For fiscal 2021, due to product mix changes, we now expect that our DRAM cost reductions will be somewhat higher than our prior expectations of mid-single digits, while our NAND cost reductions will be somewhat lower than our prior expectations of low to mid-teens.

第二財季綜合毛利率為32.9%，較上一季成長200個基點。 DRAM價格上漲和成本下降推動了第二財季毛利率的提升。展望2021財年，由於產品組合調整，我們預期DRAM成本降幅將略高於先前預期的個位數中段，而NAND成本降幅將略低於先前預期的十幾至十幾。

Operating expenses were $797 million in F Q2. Operating expenses were slightly lower than our expectation as prequal expenses were less than we had anticipated. We continue to expect operating expenses to increase in the second half of the fiscal year as we incur increased prequalification and labor expenses. As always, we remain committed to tightly managing expenses.

第二財季的營運支出為7.97億美元。由於資格預審費用低於預期，營運支出略低於我們的預期。我們預計，隨著資格預審和人工成本的增加，下半年營運支出將持續成長。我們將一如既往地嚴格控制支出。

F Q2 operating income was $1.3 billion resulting in an operating margin of 20% compared to 17% in the prior quarter and 11% in the prior year's quarter. F Q2 EBITDA was $2.8 billion, resulting in an EBITDA margin of 45% compared to 43% in the prior quarter and 40% in the prior year. Net interest expense improved to $24 million, and we expect it to be approximately $25 million in F Q3. Our F Q2 effective tax rate was 10.1%. We expect our tax rate to be in the high single digits for fiscal 2021.

第二財季營業收入為13億美元，營業利益率為20%，高於上一季的17%和去年同期的11%。第二財季EBITDA為28億美元，EBITDA利潤率為45%，高於上一季的43%和去年同期的40%。淨利息支出改善至2,400萬美元，預計第三財季約2,500萬美元。第二財季實際稅率為10.1%。預計2021財年稅率將維持在接近兩位數的水平。

Non-GAAP earnings per share in F Q2 were $0.98, up from $0.78 in F Q1 and up from $0.45 in the year ago quarter. EPS included $0.01 of nonoperating income related to gains from investments in our venture arm, Micron Ventures.

第二財季非GAAP每股盈餘為0.98美元，高於第一財季的0.78美元及去年同期的0.45美元。每股盈餘包含0.01美元的非經營性收入，該收入來自我們對創投部門Micron Ventures的投資收益。

Turning to cash flows and capital spending. We generated approximately $3.1 billion in cash from operations in F Q2, representing 49% of revenue. Net capital spending was approximately $2.9 billion during the quarter. Through the first 6 months of the fiscal year, we have deployed approximately $5.7 billion or slightly less than 2/3 of our expected annual capital spending. As we look ahead to the second half of the fiscal year, we expect capital spending to decline from the first half and continue to target approximately $9 billion in total for FY '21.

接下來談談現金流和資本支出。第二財季，我們的經營活動產生的現金流量約為31億美元，佔總營收的49%。該季度淨資本支出約為29億美元。本財年上半年，我們已投入約57億美元，略低於全年預期資本支出的三分之二。展望下半年，我們預期資本支出將較上半年下降，並持續維持2021財年全年資本支出總額約為90億美元的目標。

As a result of our strong cash flow from operations of $3.1 billion, we generated positive free cash flow of $174 million despite the relatively high level of capital spending in the quarter. The increased cash flow was driven by strong revenue growth and efficient working capital management. We expect free cash flow to continue to improve in the second half of the fiscal year, driven by continued revenue growth, higher margins and lower capital spending. While we do not have share repurchases in F Q2, we will begin repurchasing shares in the third quarter and remain committed to returning at least 50% of annual free cash flow to shareholders in FY '21.

由於我們強勁的營運活動現金流達到31億美元，儘管本季資本支出相對較高，我們仍實現了1.74億美元的正自由現金流。現金流的成長主要得益於強勁的收入成長和高效率的營運資本管理。我們預計，在持續的收入成長、更高的利潤率和更低的資本支出的推動下，本財年下半年的自由現金流將繼續改善。雖然我們在第二財季沒有進行股票回購，但我們將在第三季開始回購股票，並承諾在2021財年將至少50%的年度自由現金流返還給股東。

Ending F Q2 inventory was $4.7 billion or 99 days, which reflects the inventory reporting changes we announced on last quarter's earnings call. We ended the quarter with total cash of $8.6 billion and total liquidity of approximately $11.1 billion. F Q2 ending total debt was $6.6 billion.

截至第二財季末，庫存為47億美元，相當於99天，這反映了我們在上季財報電話會議上宣布的庫存報告方式變更。本季末，公司現金總額為86億美元，流動資金總額約111億美元。第二財季末總負債為66億美元。

Now turning to our outlook. DRAM prices have started to strengthen, and we expect the market to remain undersupplied this calendar year. In addition, NAND conditions are stabilizing. These improving market conditions, combined with our significantly stronger competitive position, set us up to generate stellar financial results in the second half of the fiscal and calendar year. While demand is strong across both the DRAM and NAND markets, our supply is now constrained as our inventories are very lean, particularly in DRAM. This restricts our ability to serve potential upside to demand.

現在談談我們的展望。 DRAM價格已開始走強，我們預計今年市場仍將供不應求。此外，NAND市場狀況也趨於穩定。這些不斷改善的市場環境，加上我們顯著增強的競爭優勢，將使我們預計在下半年（本財年和本年度）取得優異的財務表現。儘管DRAM和NAND市場需求強勁，但由於庫存非常緊張，尤其是DRAM庫存，我們的供應目前受到限制。這限制了我們滿足潛在需求成長的能力。

On the cost side, we're facing additional headwinds due to foreign exchange rates and drought mitigation impacting our Taiwan operations. And as a result, our F Q3 DRAM costs could be sequentially up. We're also assuming that there is no impact to our production output due to the Taiwan drought.

成本方面，由於匯率波動和台灣旱情應對措施對我們業務的影響，我們面臨額外的阻力。因此，我們第三季DRAM成本可能較上季上升。同時，我們也假設台灣旱情不會對我們的產量造成影響。

With all these factors in mind, our non-GAAP guidance for F Q3 is as follows: we expect revenue to be $7.1 billion, plus or minus $200 million; gross margin to be in the range of 41.5%, plus or minus 100 basis points; and operating expenses to be approximately $875 million, plus or minus $25 million. Finally, based on a share count of approximately 1.16 billion fully diluted shares, we expect EPS to be $1.62, plus or minus $0.07.

考慮到以上所有因素，我們對第三財季的非GAAP績效指引如下：預計營收為71億美元，上下浮動2億美元；毛利率為41.5%，上下浮動100個基點；營運費用約為8.75億美元，上下浮動2,500萬美元。最後，基於約11.6億股完全稀釋後的股份數量，我們預計每股收益為1.62美元，上下浮動0.07美元。

In closing, as we reflect on our financial performance for FY '20, which was a trough year for Micron in this cycle and compare it to the prior trough in FY '16, I'm amazed by how far we have come. From FY '16 to FY '20, we substantially improved our EBITDA margin and our revenue grew by more than 70%. During this time, we delivered average gross margins of 40%, EBITDA margins of 50% and return on invested capital of 20%. We believe Micron's strong performance will continue across cycle and outperform the broader semiconductor industry.

最後，回顧2020財年的財務業績，這一年是美光在本輪週期中的低谷期，與2016財年的低谷期相比，我們取得的進步令我驚嘆。從2016財年到2020財年，我們的EBITDA利潤率大幅提升，營收成長超過70%。在此期間，我們的平均毛利率達到40%，EBITDA利潤率達到50%，投資報酬率達20%。我們相信，美光的強勁業績將在整個週期中持續，並超越整個半導體產業的平均水準。

I'll now turn it back to Sanjay.

現在我把麥克風交還給桑傑。

Thank you, Dave. None of our achievements are possible without the great work of our world-class Micron team. We seek to recognize and reward team member performance and to do so fairly. Last week, we announced that we achieved comprehensive global pay equity in total employee compensation across base pay, bonuses and stock rewards for women and all underrepresented groups at Micron. Pay equity is a key pillar of our diversity, equality and inclusion strategy and core to creating an environment that attracts and retains the best talent. We continue to strengthen Micron's inclusive values-driven culture, which is an integral part of our broader transformation.

謝謝你，戴夫。沒有我們世界一流的美光團隊的辛勤付出，我們不可能有任何成就。我們致力於認可和獎勵團隊成員的卓越表現，並力求做到公平公正。上週，我們宣布，美光已在全球範圍內實現了全面的薪酬公平，涵蓋基本工資、獎金和股票獎勵，確保女性員工和所有少數群體員工的薪酬水平平等。薪酬公平是我們多元化、平等和包容策略的關鍵支柱，也是我們打造吸引和留住頂尖人才環境的核心。我們將繼續強化美光以價值為導向的包容性文化，這是我們整體轉型的重要組成部分。

We have come a long way since micron's founding as a start-up in Boise, Idaho, more than 40 years ago. And today, we are a global technology and product leader. As the United States' only remaining memory and storage manufacturer, we welcome the U.S. government's commitments to enhance America's long-term technology leadership and competitiveness in semiconductor manufacturing. This emphasis on our industry, which is reflected by governments globally, is the recognition of the critical role we play in today's digital economy.

自從40多年前美光在愛達荷州博伊西創立以來，我們取得了長足的進步。如今，我們已成為全球技術和產品的領導者。作為美國僅存的記憶體和儲存設備製造商，我們歡迎美國政府致力於提升美國在半導體製造領域的長期技術領先地位和競爭力。這種對我們產業的重視，也體現了世界各國政府對我們在當今數位經濟中扮演的關鍵角色的認可。

Memory and storage represent approximately 30% of semiconductor industry revenue today, up from 10% in the early 2000s, and DRAM and NAND are growing in importance as a critical enabler of the most advanced technologies, driving economic growth and well-being. Micron's innovation over the decades has created a strong foundation, and we look forward to delivering value for all our stakeholders as the data economy accelerates.

如今，記憶體和儲存業務約佔半導體產業收入的30%，高於21世紀初的10%。 DRAM和NAND快閃記憶體作為尖端技術的關鍵推動因素，其重要性日益凸顯，並正在推動經濟成長和人類福祉。美光數十年來不斷創新，奠定了堅實的基礎。隨著數據經濟的加速發展，我們期待為所有利害關係人創造價值。

Thank you for joining and for your support of Micron. We will now move to Q&A.

感謝您的參與和對美光科技的支持。接下來我們將進入問答環節。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of C.J. Muse of Evercore.

（操作說明）我們的第一個問題來自 Evercore 的 C.J. Muse。

Yes. Sanjay, I guess I was hoping you could compare and contrast what you're seeing this cycle versus previous cycles on the DRAM side. You're talking severe shortages yet we're really not seeing anyone upticking on CapEx. And if you ordered a tool today, you wouldn't get it until Q1 next year at the earliest. So I guess how are you thinking about things as well as what kind of changes are you seeing in terms of customer behavior? And how might that affect your business going forward?

是的，Sanjay，我希望你能對比一下本輪週期和以往週期DRAM市場的狀況。你說現在嚴重缺貨，但我們似乎沒有看到任何企業增加資本支出。而且，如果你今天訂購一台設備，最快要到明年第一季才能拿到。所以我想問你對目前的情況有什麼看法？你觀察到客戶行為有哪些改變？這些變化又會對你們未來的業務產生怎樣的影響？

Thank you, C.J. And in terms of how we see the demand environment today versus what you referred to a few years ago, no question that at that time, the demand was driven with the increases in cloud, primarily. And today, the demand drivers are much more diverse. We are seeing shortages across all end markets, the demand is strong across all end markets. When you look at cloud, while cloud may have gone through some digestion over the course of last couple of quarters, when we look ahead, cloud demand is expected to be healthy, given the refresh with the new CPUs that are driving greater content in the servers. Similarly, mobile with 5G is driving much greater content, a first 5G phone, and on a year-over-year basis, the number of smartphones being sold are expected to increase on a double-digit basis as well. So strong driver of growth on mobile phones as well.

謝謝C.J.。說到我們今天對需求環境的看法，以及您幾年前提到的情況，毫無疑問，當時的需求主要由雲端運算的成長所驅動。而如今，需求驅動因素更加多元化。我們看到所有終端市場都出現了短缺，需求也很強勁。就雲端運算而言，雖然過去幾季雲端運算市場可能經歷了一些消化過程，但展望未來，鑑於新一代CPU的推出推動了伺服器內容的增加，雲端運算需求預計將保持健康成長。同樣，5G行動通訊也推動了內容的大幅成長，首款5G手機的推出，以及預計智慧型手機銷量也將實現兩位數的同比增長，都對行動通訊市場的成長起到了強勁的推動作用。

Automotive experience, of course, big decline last year, but on a year-over-year basis, mid double-digit range growth in automotive number of units sold. So automotive is also driving greater content increase as well as unit increases. So overall, the industry is experiencing strong demand virtually across all end-market segments. The CapEx has been disciplined, particularly in DRAM over the course of last couple of years and the environment is one of severe undersupply. So we are very excited about the opportunities ahead, and we absolutely believe that Micron, in this environment, in terms of demand and supply considerations and our own execution from a technology point of view, having industries leading edge, 1-alpha node industry's first as well as having industry's first 176-layer node, we are well positioned to drive our growth ahead and really well positioned to deliver stellar financial results over the course of next several quarters.

當然，汽車產業去年的業績大幅下滑，但與去年同期相比，汽車銷量實現了兩位數的中等成長。因此，汽車產業不僅推動了銷售成長，也促進了晶片含量的成長。整體而言，幾乎所有終端市場領域都呈現強勁的需求。過去幾年，資本支出一直保持穩健，尤其是在DRAM領域，而目前市場供應嚴重不足。因此，我們對未來的機會感到非常興奮，我們堅信，在當前市場環境下，考慮到供需關係以及我們自身的技術優勢，美光擁有業界領先的1-alpha節點（業界首創）和176層節點，我們完全有能力推動未來的成長，並在未來幾季取得優異的財務業績。

And in terms of our customers, a question that you asked as well, I mean, customers across the board are seeing that memory in DRAM is in short supply. And that does affect some of the lead times that we expect from those customers. And by and large, those customers are supportive of those lead time considerations. And in this environment of extremely tight supply, the flexibility that is available for customers to switch between products is also becoming more limited. And this then does require customers to have longer lead times as well.

至於我們的客戶，您也問了這個問題。我的意思是，所有客戶都發現DRAM記憶體供應短缺。這確實會影響我們對部分客戶的交貨週期預期。總的來說，這些客戶都能理解並接受交貨週期的考慮。在供應極度緊張的情況下，客戶在不同產品之間切換的彈性也越來越有限。因此，客戶也需要接受更長的交貨週期。

Our next question comes from John Pitzer of Crédit Suisse.

下一個問題來自瑞士信貸的約翰‧皮策。

Yes. Congratulations on the strong results. Sanjay, just sticking on the CapEx side, you're characterizing the DRAM market as severe shortage, the NAND market is stabilizing, which is sort of an uptick of how you've been characterizing the market over the last couple of quarters. You're undergrowing industry bids, and you've got sort of an industry-leading cost position, especially in DRAM, with 1-alpha. And yet when I look at your full year CapEx versus what you've spent fiscal year-to-date, you're going to be down over 40% in the second half of the year. Why not get a little bit more aggressive on CapEx? What would you need to see? And at these levels, can you maintain your goal of being in line with industry bit share at these CapEx levels?

是的，祝賀你們取得如此強勁的業績。 Sanjay，關於資本支出方面，你認為DRAM市場嚴重短缺，NAND市場正在趨於穩定，這和你過去幾季對市場的描述相比，算是有所好轉。你們的報價低於行業平均水平，而且在成本方面，尤其是在DRAM領域（1-alpha），你們擁有業界領先的優勢。然而，當我查看你們全年的資本支出與本財年迄今為止的支出時，發現下半年的支出將下降超過40%。為什麼不在資本支出方面更積極一些呢？你們需要看到什麼？在目前的資本支出水準下，你們能否實現與產業平均持平的目標？

So I think it is important to understand that we do remain disciplined with respect to CapEx. We want to make sure we manage it prudently. Our goal is that over longer-term in terms of supply growth CAGR to be aligned with industry demand growth CAGR. And we have made prudent decisions over the course of last few years in terms of CapEx investment. If you look at our fiscal year '21 CapEx of approximately $9 billion, this is really almost the highest CapEx that the company has spent in its history. And we are putting that into positioning us well for the future in terms of, of course, creating more clean room expansion, but also investing in leading edge technologies, which is what, as we look ahead, will drive our supply growth with our 1-alpha node in DRAM as well as with our 176-layer NAND node.

因此，我認為重要的是要理解，我們在資本支出方面始終保持嚴謹的態度。我們希望確保審慎地管理資本支出。我們的目標是，從長遠來看，供應成長的複合年增長率與產業需求成長的複合年增長率保持一致。過去幾年，我們在資本支出投資方面做出了審慎的決策。如果您看我們2021財年的資本支出，約為90億美元，幾乎是公司歷史上最高的資本支出。我們將這筆資金用於為未來做好準備，當然，這包括擴大無塵室規模，以及投資尖端技術。展望未來，這些前沿技術將推動我們的供應成長，包括DRAM的1-alpha節點和176層NAND節點。

So even last year, while the industry was going through a trough period, Micron actually took the steps to invest for building for the future strength of the company. So all in all, we believe that our bit share in the industry would stay stable. And overall, it is a good environment for us to operate in, where our demand growth and our supply growth are on a CAGR basis aligned. Yes, from quarter-to-quarter, there can be variations. But most important thing is that long-term supply growth CAGR is managed in a disciplined fashion. And this is what is Micron's focus. And we believe we are well positioned. As I said before, well positioned to deliver stellar results over the course of the next several quarters.

因此，即使在去年產業低迷時期，美光也採取了措施進行投資，為公司未來的發展奠定基礎。總而言之，我們相信我們在行業中的市場份額將保持穩定。而且，目前我們擁有良好的營運環境，需求成長和供應成長的複合年增長率 (CAGR) 基本一致。當然，季度之間可能會有波動，但最重要的是，我們能夠以穩健的方式管理長期供應成長的複合年增長率。這正是美光的重點。我們相信我們已經做好了充分的準備。正如我之前所說，我們有能力在未來幾季取得卓越的業績。

Our next question comes from Timothy Arcuri of UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀集團的提摩西·阿庫裡。

I guess I also had a question on Capex. Dave, given what you're guiding in the back half of the year to, you're going to basically be exiting the year like annualizing roughly $6 billion in CapEx, something like that. So it requires a pretty big ramp just to get to that like 30% capital intensity number for next year that you've been kind of talking about. So is that still the right number to think about, that you can get to like low 30s capital intensity for fiscal '22? Because there's just not a lot of slots that you can get right now, even if you decide that you want to spend more money, those tool shipment slots aren't even really free until start of next year, so.

我還有一個關於資本支出的問題。戴夫，根據你對下半年的預測，你們今年底的資本支出大概會達到60億美元左右。所以，要達到你之前提到的明年30%的資本密集度目標，需要相當大的投入。那麼，2022財年能否達到30%左右的資本密集度目標呢？因為現在可用的專案名額非常有限，即使你們決定增加投入，那些工具交付名額也要到明年年初才能真正空出來。

Right. Yes. I mean, keep in mind that CapEx can be a little lumpy. There are times where we need to make the investments ahead of our node transitions, and those sometimes can get more consolidated into a couple of quarters. And I think that's essentially what you're seeing in fiscal '21. We're not ready to talk to numbers about fiscal '22 yet. We haven't got -- finished fiscal '21, and we need to do that before we kind of formulate the plan. But I would tell you, over the long term, we feel very comfortable with our target CapEx spend of low 30s or 30% to 35% of our revenue in terms of CapEx. As Sanjay talked about, we take a very long-term view of CapEx and align that CapEx investment to make sure that supply and demand are in balance for us, and we'll continue to do -- to approach it that way.

沒錯。是的。我的意思是，要記住資本支出可能會有些波動。有時我們需要在節點轉換之前進行投資，而這些投資有時會集中在幾個季度內完成。我認為這基本上就是您在2021財年看到的情況。我們目前還不方便討論2022財年的具體數字。我們還沒有完成2021財年，我們需要先完成2021財年的工作才能製定計畫。但我可以告訴您，從長遠來看，我們對資本支出目標（佔收入的30%到35%）感到非常滿意。正如Sanjay所說，我們對資本支出採取非常長遠的眼光，並調整資本支出投資，以確保供需平衡，我們將繼續採取這種方式。

Our next question comes from Joe Moore of Morgan Stanley.

下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的喬·摩爾。

If I look at the sort of quarter-on-quarter bit growth for DRAM that you've given the last 4 quarters, I get to 40%-plus type bit growth in February versus supply that you're sort of talking about, less than 20%, I think. So obviously, there's some deceleration implied there that you unwound inventory a little bit in February. I know you talked about that a little bit after the pronouncement, but maybe just give us a little bit of color on how you got to that bit growth and how that affects the next couple of quarters?

如果我看一下您過去四個季度給出的DRAM環比位成長數據，2月份的位元成長超過了40%，而您提到的供應量成長卻不到20%。顯然，這暗示著2月份的成長放緩，您可能稍微清理了一下庫存。我知道您在發佈公告後也談到了這一點，但能否詳細解釋一下您是如何實現這一位增長的，以及這將如何影響接下來的幾個季度？

So of course, if you look at last year, we had said that our supply growth was somewhat greater last year compared to the industry supply growth and the industry demand growth as well. So that positioned us well in terms of using up our inventory this year. And our supply growth this year is expected to be less than the industry demand growth. Industry demand growth, we have just raised our estimations to approximately 20% in calendar year '21, so our supply growth to be somewhat less than the industry. And of course, we have used in DRAM our inventory to supply -- to meet the growing customer requirements.

當然，回顧去年，我們曾表示，與產業供應和需求成長相比，去年我們的供應成長略高。這使我們在今年的庫存消耗方面處於有利地位。預計今年我們的供應成長將低於產業需求成長。我們剛剛將2021年行業需求成長的預期上調至約20%，因此我們的供應成長將略低於行業平均。當然，我們已經動用了DRAM的庫存來滿足不斷增長的客戶需求。

As we look ahead, it will be -- our supply growth will be driven by our 1-alpha technology in DRAM. We will be ramping it over the course of next few quarters. It will be the workhorse of technology for us in terms of bit growth in fiscal '22 as well. And of course, as we bring out our products in this technology node, we have to get them qualified with our customers, and that's what we are focused on in terms of getting the ramp-up of this technology, 1-alpha technology, getting products qualified in time for it to position us to drive our supply bit growth to meet the ultimate customer demand growth requirements during the rest of the calendar year.

展望未來，我們的供應成長將主要由DRAM的1-alpha技術驅動。我們將在未來幾季逐步提高產能。在2022財年，它也將成為我們比特成長的主力技術。當然，隨著我們推出採用該技術節點的產品，我們必須先通過客戶的認證。這正是我們目前的工作重點：加速1-alpha技術的產能提升，並確保產品及時通過認證，使我們能夠推動供應比特成長，最終滿足客戶在今年剩餘時間內不斷增長的需求。

Okay. That makes sense. But am I right in thinking that there's an implied kind of decline in kind of sequential bits as you moved a lot of inventory in February, you don't have that inventory to move in May?

好的，這說得通。但我理解的對嗎？由於你們二月售出了大量庫存，五月就沒有那麼多庫存需要售出了，所以銷售自然會呈現下降趨勢？

So again, our inventory in DRAM is really very lean at this point. And going forward, the growth will come from our 1-alpha node. And I think what's again important is that there can be fluctuations from quarter-to-quarter. But long term, it is really about having a stable market share driven by technology transitions, which is our focus and which we have delivered successfully. Whether you look at our 1Z node in DRAM, that was the first 1Z node in the industry, now 1-alpha node is the first 1-alpha node in the industry as well. So technology transitions is what we are focused in terms of driving our long-term demand -- supply bit growth CAGR to be in line with the demand growth CAGR. And from quarter-to-quarter, depending upon the timing of the technology transitions, there can be fluctuations. Second half in terms of our year-over-year growth will be lower than the first half, yes.

所以，目前我們的DRAM庫存非常低。展望未來，成長將主要來自我們的1-alpha節點。我認為同樣重要的是，季度之間可能會有波動。但從長遠來看，關鍵在於透過技術轉型來維持穩定的市場份額，這正是我們關注的重點，而我們已經成功地實現了這一點。無論是我們DRAM的1Z節點（業界首個1Z節點），或是現在的1-alpha節點（業界首個1-alpha節點），技術轉型都是我們推動長期需求成長的重點－確保供應位成長的複合年增長率與需求成長的複合年增長率保持一致。季度之間，由於技術轉型的時間安排不同，可能會出現波動。下半年的年成長率確實會低於上半年。

Our next question comes from Chris Danely of Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的克里斯·丹利。

Just a bit of a longer-term question. So Sanjay/Dave, if things continue to be strong for, hopefully, several quarters like you guys are talking about, your cash pile's going to grow fairly substantially. So theoretically speaking, if we're sitting here a year, 1.5 years out, what are you thinking about as far as the usage of that cash going forward? And could we see a dividend potentially in the future?

稍微問個長遠點的問題。 Sanjay/Dave，如果情況像你們說的那樣，持續幾個季度強勁增長，你們的現金儲備將會大幅增加。那麼理論上，如果我們展望一年或一年半後，你們打算如何使用這些現金？未來是否有可能派發股息？

Yes. Well, so our current, obviously, approach towards returning cash to shareholders is through the buyback. We mentioned in the second fiscal quarter, we didn't buy back stock, nor did we buy back stock in the first quarter. And that was really a function of the fact that cash flow was negative, and we were protecting our cash -- our net cash position. But as you say -- suggest and as we talked about, we do expect to have good cash flow in the back half of the fiscal year. And we do expect this business to generate free cash flow over time. So I think primarily, you can look to us to buy back stock. We're going to return at least 50% of our free cash flow in the form of buybacks. And we have, in the past, returned more than that. So potentially, we could do that in the future. There's a few things on the balance sheet as it relates to converts and debt that might use some of that cash as well. As far as the dividend, we haven't talked with the Board about that. Certainly a possibility, but I think we need to get through this year and discuss with the Board to see if that makes sense.

是的。目前，我們向股東返還現金的方式顯然是透過股票回購。我們在第二財季提到過，我們沒有回購股票，第一財季也沒有。這主要是因為當時的現金流為負，我們需要保護我們的現金——也就是淨現金部位。但正如您所說，也正如我們之前討論過的，我們預計本財年下半年現金流狀況良好。我們也預期這項業務會隨著時間的推移產生自由現金流。所以我認為，主要還是要看我們回購股票。我們將至少以股票回購的形式返還50%的自由現金流。而且，我們過去也曾返還過更多。所以，未來我們有可能繼續這樣做。資產負債表上還有一些與可轉換債券和債務相關的項目，也可能會用到一部分現金。至於股息，我們還沒有和董事會討論過。當然，這是一種可能性，但我認為我們需要先撐過今年，然後再和董事會討論一下，看看這樣做是否可行。

Our next question comes from Toshiya Hari of Goldman Sachs.

下一個問題來自高盛的 Toshiya Hari。

Great. Dave, you're guiding gross margins up about 900 basis points sequentially for the May quarter. You talked about the exit from 3D XPoint driving lower depreciation. I think it was $75 million. You also talked about DRAM costs potentially being up due to FX and the drought in Taiwan. But outside of those 2 items, how are you thinking about costs in your NAND business, given the transition to second-gen replacement gate? And what are your thoughts on pricing for both DRAM and NAND? I think for DRAM, most of us are expecting 10%, 15% funded pricing increases on the NAND side, perhaps up low single digits. But how are you guys thinking about pricing? And how are you thinking about sustainability of pricing into the second half?

太好了。戴夫，你預計五月季度的毛利率將環比增長約900個基點。你提到退出3D XPoint專案將降低折舊成本，我記得是7500萬美元。你也提到由於匯率波動和台灣乾旱，DRAM成本可能會上漲。但除了這兩點之外，考慮到向第二代替代閘極的過渡，你如何看待NAND業務的成本？你對DRAM和NAND的定價有何看法？我認為，對於DRAM，我們大多數人預計會有10%到15%的漲幅，而NAND方面可能只有個位數的漲幅。但你們是如何考慮定價的？你們如何看待下半年價格的可持續性？

Okay. Thanks. So as you point out, we do get the $75 million tailwind in the third fiscal quarter due to the stoppage of the depreciation expense in Lehigh, that certainly will be beneficial and will help. The following quarter, it actually may be a little bit better than that. And so that will be a tailwind again for the fourth fiscal quarter. We talked about DRAM costs. We are affected by a few things. I mentioned the drought mitigation that is causing a little bit of a headwind on our costs on DRAM. We are -- because of the significant tightness in our supply chain, we are seeing some increased spending as it relates to the back end. So that's certainly a factor as well.

好的，謝謝。正如您所指出的，由於利哈伊工廠折舊費用的停止，我們在第三財季確實獲得了7500萬美元的利好，這無疑會對我們有所幫助。下一季情況可能會更好一些，因此這將再次成為第四財季的利多因素。我們之前討論過DRAM成本。這受到一些因素的影響。我提到過，抗旱措施對我們的DRAM成本造成了一定的負面影響。此外，由於供應鏈的嚴重緊張，我們在後端方面的支出也有所增加。這當然也是影響因素。

And also, as I mentioned in the prepared remarks, FX has been a bit of a headwind for us. In particular, it's Taiwan dollar, which has, had about a 5% appreciation this year. So those things are driving a little bit of a cost increase. I would say that's probably kind of a 1 or 2 quarter type effect. We're pretty excited about the 1-alpha node. It does have a great cost structure. It will be a workhorse node for us in fiscal '22. And so we would expect that to certainly help on the cost side on DRAM. On the NAND front, we are expecting costs to improve next quarter, aligned with our kind of annual cost-reduction assumptions, which suggests it will be in the low double digits year-over-year. So that will certainly be a little bit of a benefit on the gross margins as well.

正如我在事先準備好的發言稿中提到的，匯率波動對我們造成了一定的不利影響。特別是新台幣，今年以來已經升值了約5%。這些因素導致成本略有上升。我認為這大概會持續一到兩個季度。我們對1-alpha工藝節點非常看好。它的成本結構非常出色，將成為我們2022財年的主力生產節點。因此，我們預計它將有助於降低DRAM的成本。在NAND快閃記憶體方面，我們預計下個季度成本將有所改善，這與我們年度成本削減的預期相符，這意味著同比降幅將達到兩位數左右。因此，這無疑也會對毛利率有所提升。

The rest of the gross margin guidance is obviously a function of assumptions around pricing and mix. And we avoid specifics around that. Suffice it to say that we feel very good about the pricing environment in DRAM, given the very tight supply situation we're in, in DRAM. And we're cautiously optimistic on the NAND front, given the stabilization we've seen more recently. But outside of that, I prefer not to comment more on the pricing side.

其餘的毛利率預期顯然取決於對定價和產品組合的假設。我們對此不做具體說明。總而言之，鑑於DRAM目前供應非常緊張，我們對DRAM的定價環境非常樂觀。鑑於NAND快閃記憶體近期趨於穩定，我們也持謹慎樂觀的態度。除此之外，我不想在定價方面做更多評論。

Our next question comes from Harlan Sur of JPMorgan.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根大通的哈蘭‧蘇爾。

Great job on the quarterly execution. Just given the DRAM tightness and what appears to be tightness in literally all of your end markets, is the team reallocating your production mix, let's say, from mobile towards more higher growth, higher-margin segments of the market like enterprise and cloud and gaming as you move towards the second half of the year? Especially on your view of strong cloud demand in the second half, improving enterprise trends, improving gaming trends in the second half of the year. Is there any reallocation on the product mix in terms of wafers that you guys are starting today?

季度業績執行得非常出色。鑑於DRAM供應緊張，以及你們所有終端市場似乎都面臨供應緊張的局面，你們團隊是否會在下半年調整生產結構，例如從行動領域轉向企業、雲端和遊戲等成長更快、利潤更高的細分市場？特別是考慮到你們預計下半年雲端需求強勁，企業和遊戲市場需求也將持續成長。你們今天是否已經開始對晶圓產品組合進行任何調整？

So remember, the lead time, the cycle time of wafers in the fab tends to be in the 2- to 3-month range. And the wafers that you start today, by the time they are shipping to the customers, that time ends up being, including the time for assembly and test, ends up being 3 to 4 months later. So in this environment of really tightness across all end market segments, planning our wafer starts and dedicating them toward various end markets is really critically important. So this is the kind of activity that our team is always engaged in, in terms of working closely with customers. In understanding their demand mix, so not just total bit demand, but the bit mix of that demand between various product types because it's extremely important that we start our wafers in line with the expectation of our customers' demand a few months down the road, given again the cycle time considerations. So we are always managing this mix. But again, would point out that we are seeing supply shortages for us across all end market segments and across all nodes of DRAM as well.

所以請記住，晶圓廠的晶圓生產週期通常在2到3個月之間。而今天開始生產的晶圓，從下單到最終交付給客戶，包括組裝和測試在內，最終需要3到4個月的時間。因此，在所有終端市場都面臨供應緊張的環境下，合理規劃晶圓生產計劃並將其分配給不同的終端市場至關重要。我們的團隊一直致力於與客戶緊密合作，了解他們的需求組成，不僅包括總比特需求，還包括不同產品類型之間的需求組成。因為考慮到生產週期，我們必須確保晶圓生產計畫與客戶未來幾個月的需求預期保持一致，這一點至關重要。所以我們一直在管理這種需求組成。但需要再次指出的是，我們目前在所有終端市場和所有DRAM節點上都面臨供應短缺的問題。

And in this environment, we -- this is why, as I mentioned earlier, the lead time with customers is important, and it is an environment where flexibility, in terms of -- for customers to switch between one product type to another product type is more limited now. When we had more inventory in DRAM before, that was easier to manage.

在這種環境下，正如我之前提到的，與客戶保持良好的溝通時間至關重要。同時，客戶在不同產品類型之間切換的靈活性也受到了更多限制。以前我們DRAM庫存較多時，管理起來就容易得多。

Now that the inventory is running at these lean levels, managing our supply mix, keeping it aligned with the customer mix, this is an ongoing activity here at Micron. And our team has done, I think, a great job, our supply chain team, our business units and our sales teams have done a great job working with our customers, understanding the market requirements and managing our business well.

現在庫存處於精簡水平，管理我們的供應組合，使其與客戶組合保持一致，這是美光公司持續進行的工作。我認為我們的團隊做得非常出色，我們的供應鏈團隊、業務部門和銷售團隊都與客戶緊密合作，了解市場需求，並有效地管理我們的業務。

And you see the result in terms of how well we have been able to bring inventory both in DRAM as well as in NAND. And of course, we are continuing to push for SSDs and multichip packages toward our higher density solutions as well because, again, all those considerations are important in this environment of tight supply and the tightness in terms of supply only increasing as we go through the year. So this is getting a lot of focus, Harlan.

您可以看到，我們在DRAM和NAND快閃記憶體的庫存補充方面都取得了顯著成效。當然，我們也持續推動SSD和多晶片封裝產品向高密度解決方案的轉型，因為在當前供應緊張的環境下，所有這些因素都至關重要，而且隨著時間的推移，供應緊張的局面只會愈演愈烈。所以，哈蘭，我們非常重視這一點。

Our next question comes from Aaron Rakers of Wells Fargo.

下一個問題來自富國銀行的 Aaron Rakers。

Yes. Also, congratulations on the strong execution. I wanted to ask you a little bit about the longer-term secular growth drivers in the server DRAM market. How do you see kind of content growth on a per server basis progressing? And I know you've talked about CXL. What's the thoughts on what CXL means to that equation and when that starts to matter?

是的。另外，恭喜你們出色地完成了任務。我想問一下伺服器DRAM市場的長期成長驅動因素。您認為單一伺服器的內容成長會如何發展？我知道你們談到了CXL。您認為CXL對這個市場意味著什麼？它何時才會開始發揮作用？

So in terms of server content, as we mentioned in the prepared remarks, with the new compute platform architectures and the processors that are being introduced, they're all leading towards more cores, more channels and greater usage of higher density modules. And of course, the end market applications, when you look at those workloads are becoming more and more data-intensive, more AI-driven and ultimately driving for greater need for data and greater attach rate and greater content on a per server basis. So enterprise and cloud combined, really all -- when you look at CAGR in terms of demand growth, expect it to be a stronger CAGR in terms of big demand growth versus the average of the market. So this is definitely one of high-growth areas.

因此，就伺服器內容而言，正如我們在準備的發言稿中所提到的，隨著新的運算平台架構和處理器的推出，它們都在朝著更多核心、更多通道和更高密度模組的更廣泛應用方向發展。當然，終端市場應用的工作負載也變得越來越資料密集，越來越依賴人工智慧，最終推動了對資料、更高掛載率以及單一伺服器內容的更大需求。因此，企業和雲端平台結合起來，從需求成長的複合年增長率來看，預計其成長速度將高於市場平均。所以，這無疑是一個高成長領域。

And the average content growth continues to be very strong and at a strong clip in terms of gigabytes per CPU, when you look at it for DRAM, that is more like in -- on a CAGR basis, more like 20% average capacity growing on a per server basis, going from something like 200 gigabyte per CPU to growing to 300 gigabyte per CPU over the course of next 2 to 3 years. So DRAM has strong growth. And of course, same for SSD as well in terms of cost of ownership benefits that SSDs provide as well.

就每CPU的容量而言，平均內容成長依然非常強勁，而且成長很快。而DRAM的成長則更為緩慢－以複合年增長率來看，每台伺服器的平均容量成長率約為20%，預計未來兩到三年內，每CPU的容量將從200GB成長到300GB。因此，DRAM的成長勢頭強勁。當然，固態硬碟（SSD）在整體擁有成本方面也表現出色，同樣具有強勁的成長潛力。

And CXL is a new and emerging trend and this will create greater opportunity for differentiated solutions. And as we mentioned earlier, that these are opportunities that we believe we'll be very well positioned to capture with our emerging technology solutions that we are working on, which we believe will provide higher ROI as well as high-performance solutions for our customers. So CXL is again a development where Micron will be well positioned to really address the memory hierarchy needs of our customers as they evolve over the course of next few years.

CXL 是一項新興趨勢，它將為差異化解決方案創造更多機會。正如我們先前所提到的，我們相信憑藉我們正在研發的新興技術解決方案，我們將能夠很好地掌握這些機遇，這些解決方案不僅能為客戶帶來更高的投資報酬率，還能提供高效能的解決方案。因此，CXL 的發展再次證明了美光科技能夠更好地滿足客戶在未來幾年內不斷變化的記憶體層次結構需求。

Our next question comes from Mehdi Hosseini of SIG.

下一個問題來自 SIG 的 Mehdi Hosseini。

Yes. Just a couple of follow-ups for me. I'm going to go back to inventory. Obviously, your commentary about the supply and demand environment suggests that prices are on the rise. But perhaps you want to lean your inventory or you want to continue to reduce because that inventory is now really fungible for new application that you're going to be shipping to in the second half. Is that the right way to think about this?

是的。我還有幾個後續問題。我想再談談庫存。顯然，您對供需環境的評論表明價格正在上漲。但您或許想減少庫存，或者想繼續減少庫存，因為這些庫存現在可以很好地用於您下半年要發貨的新應用。這樣想對嗎？

As it relates to our inventory, it's pretty lean at this point. I mean, all the inventory that you're seeing is either WIP or raw materials. There's a bit of finished goods, but it's just the amount of finish goods we need to stage to meet customer demand. So that -- I think we're not in a position to lean it out anymore. We are quite lean at this point.

就我們的庫存而言，目前已經非常精簡了。我的意思是，你看到的庫存要么是半成品，要么是原料。雖然也有一些成品，但那隻是我們為了滿足客戶需求而需要儲備的成品數量。所以——我認為我們已經沒有進一步精簡庫存的餘地了。我們目前的庫存已經非常精簡了。

Got it. So there is no fungibility question. And then just moving on to NAND. And Sanjay, I see the same demand dynamics that are making you very bullish on DRAM, also apply to NAND. As a matter of fact, CXL could be a material catalyst for NAND. What is it with your underlying assumption that is still keeping your long-term NAND bit growth to 30%? There's a ton of data created, and some of these architectural changes could actually be good for storage, especially SSD. And I'm just curious why you're not as upbeat as end market data point would suggest?

明白了。所以不存在可替代性問題。接下來我們來談談NAND。 Sanjay，我看到你對DRAM非常看好的需求動態同樣適用於NAND。事實上，CXL可能成為NAND發展的重要催化劑。為什麼你還是認為NAND的長期位成長率只有30%？現在資料量非常龐大，而且一些架構上的改變實際上可能對存儲，尤其是SSD，非常有利。我只是好奇，為什麼你不像終端市場數據所顯示的那麼樂觀？

So the long-term CAGR for DRAM, we have said, is approximately 30%. And of course, this is something that we constantly evaluate with -- working with our customers. And we do analyze this. And as and when needed, we update these. But at this point, our estimation for long-term DRAM CAGR is approximately 30%. I would like to point out that overall, when you look at the price elasticity trends in DRAM and certainly, when you look at post-pandemic growth and, as I mentioned earlier, the cost of ownership benefit for DRAM for NAND in the data center market and, of course, 5G driving greater content growth with respect to feature-rich -- increasingly feature-rich smartphones as well. So the demand trends for NAND are robust. And I think the important thing to really monitor is the supply to be managed in alignment with the demand expectations. And this is where, as we have said before, that industry CapEx can be managed better in terms of supply growth aligned with longer-term demand considerations.

我們之前說過，DRAM的長期複合年增長率約為30%。當然，我們會與客戶持續評估並分析這項數據，並根據需要進行更新。但目前，我們對DRAM長期複合年增長率的估計約為30%。我想指出的是，整體而言，從DRAM的價格彈性趨勢來看，尤其是在疫情後的成長方面，正如我之前提到的，DRAM在資料中心市場中相對於NAND快閃記憶體的擁有成本優勢，以及5G推動功能日益豐富的智慧型手機內容成長，都顯示NAND快閃記憶體的需求強勁趨勢。我認為真正需要關注的是，如何根據需求預期來管理供應。正如我們之前所說，透過使供應成長與長期需求保持一致，可以更好地管理產業資本支出。

And I may have misspoken here. I may have said that approximately 30% in terms of the CAGR for demand growth, I may have said DRAM in that context. Of course, I was speaking about NAND. So I just want to correct myself that the 30% demand growth CAGR that I referred to is for NAND. Of course, as we have said, for DRAM, the long-term demand growth CAGR we see in high teens, mid-to-high teens.

我可能在這裡說錯了。我可能說過需求成長的複合年增長率約為30%，而且我當時可能把DRAM說成了NAND​​快閃記憶體。當然，我指的是NAND快閃記憶體。所以我想修正一下，我提到的30%的需求成長複合年增長率指的是NAND快閃記憶體。當然，正如我們之前所說，DRAM的長期需求成長複合年增長率預計在10%到15%之間。

Our next question comes from Tom O'Malley of Barclays.

下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的湯姆·奧馬利。

This one's more related to Dave. You talked about DRAM costs in the May quarter, potentially being up because of a couple of factors, but you also took the full year guide for costs, and so that they could be a bit better. Is that a comment on August costs accelerating and being a bit better there? Or can you just walk me through the dynamics of how you're seeing costs up in May and then the full year a little bit better in terms of overall costs?

這個問題更跟Dave有關。你提到5月份季度DRAM成本上漲可能是由於一些因素造成的，但你也參考了全年成本預期，認為全年成本可能會有所改善。這是不是意味著8月成本會加速上漲，整體情況會有所改善？或者你能詳細解釋一下，為什麼你認為5月成本上漲，而全年整體成本卻會略有改善？

Sure. First of all, good question, Tom. So really, we saw much better cost in the second fiscal quarter for DRAM, and that really was the trigger to get the overall full year cost to be higher. Now that was more a function of mix than anything. But that is what drove kind of the upside on the cost side. Yes. Do I say higher? Yes. Sorry, I meant lower. Yes, costs to be lower. The -- I meant the higher number, that's what I meant. The May quarter -- or the August quarter then is -- we're not yet ready to provide some expectation. But I think the likelihood is that it wouldn't be -- it certainly shouldn't be a step-up in terms of sequential cost and likely will be slightly down.

當然。首先，湯姆，問得好。實際上，我們在第二財季的DRAM成本大幅下降，這才是導致全年總成本上升的真正原因。當然，這更像是產品組合變化的結果，而非其他因素。但這確實是成本上漲的主要驅動因素。是的。我說的是「更高」嗎？是的。抱歉，我的意思是「更低」。是的，成本會更低。我指的是更高的數字，我的意思就是這樣。至於五月季度——或者說八月季度——我們目前還無法給出任何預期。但我認為，成本不太可能比上季上漲，反而可能會略有下降。

Our next question comes from Ambrish Srivastava of BMO.

我們的下一個問題來自BMO的Ambrish Srivastava。

Sanjay, I had a question on the shortages. And then how are you reacting to -- and you talked a little bit about the difficulty in planning and allocating wafers. So some of the semi companies, we're hearing companies -- not hearing, they've talked about changing the order cancellation policy from 45 days to 90, and some companies talking about absolutely no cancellations allowed. So how are -- are your long-term -- are your arrangements changing with some of the key customers as a result of this, so that it enables Micron to plan better? Can you just help us provide your perspective on how Micron is dealing with that?

Sanjay，我有個關於晶圓短缺的問題。您剛才也提到晶圓規劃和分配的困難，您是如何應對的？我們聽說一些半導體公司（或者說，有些公司）正在考慮將訂單取消政策從45天延長到90天，甚至有些公司完全禁止取消訂單。那麼，您與一些重要客戶的長期合作安排是否會因此而改變，以便美光能夠更好地進行規劃？您能否分享一下美光是如何應對這種情況的？

Certainly working very closely with our customers and customers across all our end markets. As I mentioned earlier, certainly lead times with our customers in terms of supply commitments are increasing. The flexibility, I think our customers, by and large, understand that the flexibility in terms of mixing of their bit demand is getting more limited as well, given that not only our supply is in very tight situation but overall, the industry -- the semiconductor industry, with respect to materials and capacity is also in a tight position. And our supply chain team has done an excellent job over the course of last year, in terms of really procuring materials and capacity early on so that even though we are running tight, we are able to meet our customer requirements. But yes, with less flexibility than before. And as Dave mentioned earlier, that some of this procurement of capacity does put some cost pressure in terms of our second half outlook as well. And so then, of course, for F Q3, that's baked into our guidance.

當然，我們與所有終端市場的客戶都保持著非常緊密的合作。正如我之前提到的，客戶在供貨承諾方面的交貨週期確實在延長。我認為，我們的客戶普遍理解，鑑於我們自身的供應非常緊張，而且整個半導體行業在材料和產能方面也面臨同樣的困境，他們在靈活調整比特需求方面的靈活性也越來越有限。我們的供應鏈團隊在過去一年中表現出色，他們儘早採購了材料和產能，因此即使供應緊張，我們也能滿足客戶的需求。但確實，靈活性比以前有所下降。正如Dave之前提到的，部分產能採購也為我們的下半年業績預期帶來了一定的成本壓力。因此，第三財季的業績指引中當然也包含了這些因素。

So our customers understand that this is an environment where we need to work closely with them. And then overall, our teams are doing a very good job in managing this in this environment of tight supply. And we see this close collaboration that is going to be needed as we go through this year and as we go into 2022 as well, because really, we are confident in 2022 demand as well. As the world recovers from this pandemic, technology -- the economies across the globe are expected to be in a strong growth spurt mode. And of course, technology demand will increase and destinations that are happening here in the U.S. first, rest of the globe coming in during the later part of the year. So the growth will be in '21 as well as '22, and we feel good about our outlook in terms of demand drivers even in '22 time frame. So this, working closely with customers to help manage the mix of their products and their supply requirements is going to be an important consideration, not just for next quarter or 2, I believe, well in 2022 time frame as well.

因此，我們的客戶明白，在當前環境下，我們需要與他們緊密合作。整體而言，我們的團隊在供應緊張的環境下，在管理方面做得非常出色。我們預計，這種緊密合作在今年乃至2022年都將至關重要，因為我們對2022年的需求也充滿信心。隨著世界從疫情中復甦，全球經濟預計將進入強勁增長期。當然，技術需求也會增加，而成長首先出現在美國，世界其他地區將在今年稍後跟進。因此，2021年和2022年都將維持成長，我們對2022年的需求驅動因素前景感到樂觀。因此，與客戶緊密合作，幫助他們管理產品組合和供應需求，將是一項重要的考量，不僅在未來一兩個季度如此，我相信在2022年也是如此。

And this is a great position for us to be in, in terms of particularly when you look at how we remain focused on our technology and product leadership execution. First, with 1-alpha node in DRAM as well as first with 176-layer NAND. And remaining focused on bringing those technology nodes into production and customer qualifications over the course of next several quarters.

就我們目前所處的地位而言，這是一個非常有利的位置，尤其是在我們始終專注於技術和產品領先地位的執行方面。首先，我們在DRAM領域擁有1-alpha節點，並且率先推出了176層NAND快閃記憶體。我們將繼續專注於在未來幾季內將這些技術節點投入量產並獲得客戶認證。

And ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today's conference call. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝各位的參與。現在可以掛斷電話了。