恩智浦 (NXPI) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Hello, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to NXP's First Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) I would now like to turn the call over to Jeff Palmer, Senior VP of Investor Relations. You may begin.

您好，感謝您的支持。歡迎參加恩智浦 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）我現在想將電話轉給投資者關係資深副總裁 Jeff Palmer。你可以開始了。

Thank you, Towanda, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to NXP Semiconductor's first quarter earnings call. With me on the call today is Kurt Sievers, NXP's President and CEO; and Bill Betz, our CFO. The call today is being recorded and will be available for replay from our corporate website.

謝謝托旺達，大家早安。歡迎參加恩智浦半導體第一季財報電話會議。今天與我一起參加電話會議的是恩智浦總裁兼執行長 Kurt Sievers。和我們的財務長比爾貝茨 (Bill Betz)。今天的通話正在進行錄音，並將可在我們的公司網站上重播。

Today's call will include forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that could cause NXP's results to differ materially from management's current expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the macroeconomic impact on the specific end markets in which we operate, the sale of new and existing products and our expectations for our financial results for the second quarter of 2024. NXP undertakes no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statements. For a full disclosure on forward-looking statements, please refer to our press release.

今天的電話會議將包括前瞻性陳述，這些陳述涉及風險和不確定性，可能導致恩智浦的表現與管理層目前的預期有重大差異。這些風險和不確定性包括但不限於有關宏觀經濟對我們經營所在的特定終端市場的影響、新產品和現有產品的銷售以及我們對 2024 年第二季度財務業績的預期的聲明。沒有義務公開修改或更新任何前瞻性陳述。有關前瞻性陳述的完整揭露，請參閱我們的新聞稿。

Additionally, we will refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures which are driven primarily by discrete events that management is not considered to be directly related to NXP's underlying core operating performance. Pursuant to Regulation G, NXP has provided reconciliations of the non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures in our first quarter 2024 earnings press release, which will be furnished to the SEC on Form 8-K and available on SP's website in the Investor Relations section.

此外，我們將提及某些非公認會計原則財務指標，這些指標主要由離散事件驅動，而管理階層不認為這些指標與恩智浦的基本核心營運績效直接相關。根據G 條例，恩智浦在2024 年第一季財報新聞稿中提供了非GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比較的GAAP 指標的調節表，該新聞稿將以8-K 表格形式提交給SEC，並可在SP 的網站上取得。

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Kurt.

現在我想把電話轉給庫爾特。

Thank you, Jeff, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining the call this morning. Beginning with quarter 1, revenue trends in all our focused end markets were in line with the midpoint of our guidance. NXP delivered quarter 1 revenue of $3.13 billion, essentially flat year-on-year. Non-GAAP operating margin in quarter 1 was 34.5%, 30 basis points below the year ago period and 60 basis points above the midpoint of our guidance.

謝謝你，傑夫，大家早安。我們感謝您今天早上加入電話會議。從第一季開始，我們所有重點終端市場的收入趨勢都與我們指導的中點一致。恩智浦第一季營收為 31.3 億美元，與去年同期基本持平。第一季的非 GAAP 營業利潤率為 34.5%，比去年同期低 30 個基點，比我們指引的中點高出 60 個基點。

Year-on-year performance was a result of consistent gross profit generation, offset by slightly higher operating expenses as we continue to invest in our future business. From a channel perspective, we held distribution inventory at a tight 1.6 months level, consistent with our guidance and well below our long-term target of 2.5 months of inventory EBITDA. Now let me turn to the specific trends in our focus end markets.

同比業績是持續毛利產生的結果，但由於我們繼續投資於未來業務，營業費用略有增加，從而抵消了這一影響。從通路角度來看，我們將分銷庫存維持在 1.6 個月的緊張水平，這與我們的指導一致，並且遠低於我們 2.5 個月庫存 EBITDA 的長期目標。現在讓我談談我們重點終端市場的具體趨勢。

In Automotive, revenue was $1.80 billion, down 1% versus the year ago period and in line with our guidance. We continue to manage an orderly process of inventory digestion with our major direct Automotive Tier 1 customers. In Industrial & IoT, revenue was $574 million, up 14% versus the year ago period and in line with our guidance. Our performance compares favorably versus the year ago period when the business had dropped. Since 1Q '23, we have seen a steady sequential improvement in the Industrial & IoT demand trends, so not yet back to the long-term levels, which we would expect. In Mobile, revenue was $349 million, up 34% versus the year ago period, where again, the business had troughed already back in 1Q '23.

汽車領域的營收為 18 億美元，比去年同期下降 1%，符合我們的指引。我們繼續與我們的主要直接汽車一級客戶一起管理有序的庫存消化過程。在工業和物聯網領域，營收為 5.74 億美元，比去年同期成長 14%，符合我們的指引。與去年業務下滑時期相比，我們的業績表現良好。自 23 年第一季以來，我們看到工業和物聯網需求趨勢穩步連續改善，因此尚未回到我們預期的長期水準。在行動領域，營收為 3.49 億美元，比去年同期成長 34%，而該業務在 23 年第一季就已陷入低谷。

And lastly, in Communication Infrastructure & Other, revenue was $399 million, down 25% year-on-year and in line with our guidance. And now let me turn to our expectations for the second quarter 2024. We are guiding quarter 2 revenue to $3.125 billion, down 5% versus the second quarter of 2023 and flat sequentially. In the Automotive end market, revenue trends during the first half of 2024 reflect a continued inventory digestion process at our direct Tier 1 Automotive customers compounded by a soft Automotive macro environment. In the Industrial & IoT end markets, we had already trust in 1Q '23. We see improving demand in China, in part thanks to our lean channel position as well as thanks to incrementally healthier end demand. This is expected to be partially offset by soft end demand in Europe and the Americas.

最後，在通訊基礎設施及其他領域，收入為 3.99 億美元，年減 25%，符合我們的指引。現在讓我談談我們對 2024 年第二季的預期。在汽車終端市場，2024 年上半年的收入趨勢反映了我們的直接一級汽車客戶持續的庫存消化過程，加上疲軟的汽車宏觀環境。在工業和物聯網終端市場，我們已經對 23 年第一季充滿信心。我們看到中國的需求正在改善，部分原因在於我們精實的通路地位以及日益健康的終端需求。預計這將被歐洲和美洲的軟終端需求部分抵消。

In the Mobile end market, we continue to witness the expected modest cyclical recovery. And finally, within the Communication Infrastructure & Other end markets, our resumption of sequential growth is primarily driven by secure RFID tagging. Taken together at the midpoint, we anticipate the following trends in our business during the second quarter. Automotive is expected to be down in the high single-digit percent range versus quarter 2 '23 and down in the mid-single-digit percent range versus quarter 1, '24. Industrial & IoT is expected to be up in the high single-digit percent range for both year-on-year and versus quarter 1 '24. Mobile is expected to be up in the low 20% range year-on-year and about flat versus Q1 '24.

在行動端市場，我們繼續見證預期的溫和週期性復甦。最後，在通訊基礎設施和其他終端市場中，我們恢復連續成長主要是由安全 RFID 標籤推動的。綜合來看，我們預期第二季我們的業務將出現以下趨勢。與 2023 年第 2 季相比，汽車產業預計將出現高個位數百分比下降，與 2024 年第 1 季相比，汽車產業將出現中個位數百分比下降。工業和物聯網預計年比和 2024 年第一季都將出現高個位數百分比成長。預計行動業務年增將在 20% 左右，與 24 年第一季持平。

And finally, Communication Infrastructure & Other is expected to be down in the mid-20% range year-on-year and up in the high single-digit percent range versus quarter 1, '24. So in summary, we are beginning to see incrementally improving demand signals for the second half of '24 across all end markets. Hence, during quarter 2, we will begin to state slightly higher inventory in the channel to support our competitiveness for the anticipated second half growth. Therefore, our guidance assumes approximately 1.7 months of distribution channel inventory exiting quarter 2. And if demand momentum continues, we will stage additional channel inventory during the second half, however, in a very controlled and targeted manner.

最後，與 2024 年第一季相比，通訊基礎設施及其他預計將同比下降 20% 左右，並上升個位數百分比。總而言之，我們開始看到 24 年下半年所有終端市場的需求訊號逐漸改善。因此，在第二季度，我們將開始在通路中公佈略高的庫存，以支持我們在下半年預期成長的競爭力。因此，我們的指導假設第二季的分銷通路庫存約為 1.7 個月。

So it is unlikely that we grow channel inventory back to our long-term target of 2.5 months within this calendar year. And taken all together, the potential outcome for 2024 should be in the range of a modest annual revenue growth or decline, just consistent with our views from a quarter ago. Overall, we continue to manage what is in our control, enabling NXP to drive solid profitability and earnings in a challenging demand environment. Our first quarter results, our guidance for the second quarter and our early views into the second half of the year underpin a cautious optimism that NXP is successfully navigating through this industry-wide cyclical downturn.

因此，我們不太可能在今年內將通路庫存恢復到 2.5 個月的長期目標。總而言之，2024 年的潛在結果應該是年度收入適度增長或下降，這與我們一個季度前的觀點一致。總體而言，我們將繼續管理我們控制範圍內的事情，使恩智浦能夠在充滿挑戰的需求環境中實現穩健的盈利能力和收益。我們第一季的業績、第二季的指引以及我們對下半年的早期看法，都支撐著我們對恩智浦正在成功度過整個產業週期性低迷的謹慎樂觀態度。

And now before turning the call over to Bill, and while we are very focused on managing the soft landing through the cycle, I would like to take a minute to highlight a couple of important innovation announcements, which we made during the first quarter. This includes our S32 core right platform for next-generation software-defined vehicles. It represents the industry's first platform to combine high-performance Automotive processing, vehicle networking and system power management, along with integrated software to address the complexity, the scalability and the cost efficiency required for the software-defined vehicle. And as part of that announcement, we also introduced our 5-nanometer S32M processor, a milestone in the expansion of our S32 processing summary.

現在，在將電話轉交給比爾之前，雖然我們非常專注於管理整個週期的軟著陸，但我想花一點時間強調我們在第一季發布的幾項重要創新公告。這包括我們用於下一代軟體定義車輛的 S32 核心右平台。它代表了業界第一個將高性能汽車處理、車輛網路和系統電源管理與整合軟體結合的平台，以解決軟體定義車輛所需的複雜性、可擴展性和成本效率。作為該公告的一部分，我們還推出了 5 奈米 S32M 處理器，這是 S32 處理摘要擴展的一個里程碑。

Additionally, we introduced industry's first 28-nanometer RFCMOS single-chip Automotive radar, which enables next-generation Automotive ADAS systems. This new product further expands our market-leading franchise and it enables next-generation highly performing coherent radar systems in a very cost-effective manner. Lastly, NXP and Honeywell, who is a leader in building automation systems signed a memorandum of understanding. This collaboration aims to help make them operate more intelligently by integrating NXP's neural network enabled industrial grade applications processes into Honeywell's building management systems. That agreement is another great example of how NXP will participate and potentially lead in the revolution of AI processing at the edge in industrial applications.

此外，我們還推出了業界首款 28 奈米 RFCMOS 單晶片汽車雷達，它支援下一代汽車 ADAS 系統。這款新產品進一步擴大了我們市場領先的特許經營權，並以非常經濟高效的方式實現了下一代高性能相干雷達系統。最後，恩智浦與建築自動化系統領導者霍尼韋爾簽署了諒解備忘錄。此次合作旨在透過將恩智浦的神經網路支援的工業級應用流程整合到霍尼韋爾的樓宇管理系統中，幫助他們更聰明地運作。該協議是恩智浦將如何參與並可能引領工業應用邊緣人工智慧處理革命的另一個很好的例子。

And now I would like to pass the call over to you, Bill for a review of our financial performance. Bill?

現在我想將電話轉給比爾，請您審查我們的財務表現。帳單？

Thank you, Kurt, and good morning to everyone on today's call. As Kurt has already covered the drivers of the revenue during Q1, and provided our revenue outlook for Q2. I will move to the highlights. Overall, the Q1 financial performance was good. Revenue was in line with the midpoint of our guidance range, with non-GAAP gross margin slightly above the midpoint of our guidance, while inventory in the distribution channel continues to remain below our long-term target.

謝謝庫爾特，今天電話會議的大家早安。由於 Kurt 已經介紹了第一季營收的驅動因素，並提供了我們第二季的營收前景。我將轉向重點。整體而言，第一季財務表現良好。收入與我們指引範圍的中點一致，非公認會計準則毛利率略高於我們指引範圍的中點，而通路的庫存繼續低於我們的長期目標。

Turning to Q1 results. Total revenue was $3.13 billion, flat year-on-year, in line with the midpoint of our guidance range. We generated $1.82 billion in non-GAAP gross profit and reported a non-GAAP gross margin of 58.2%, flat year-on-year, though 20 basis points above the midpoint of our guidance range. The incremental margin was due to an increase in the estimated useful lives of our internal front-end manufacturing equipment from 5 to 10 years. This was about 30 basis points favorable to the results, which was not in our guidance. Total non-GAAP operating expenses were $736 million, or 23.5% of revenue, up $8 million year-on-year and down $55 million from Q4. This was $19 million below the midpoint of our guidance range, primarily due to a combination of reduced variable compensation and proactive expense controls.

轉向第一季的結果。總收入為 31.3 億美元，與去年同期持平，符合我們指導範圍的中位數。我們的非 GAAP 毛利為 18.2 億美元，非 GAAP 毛利率為 58.2%，與去年同期持平，但比我們指引範圍的中點高出 20 個基點。增量利潤是由於我們內部前端製造設備的預計使用壽命從 5 年增加至 10 年。這大約有 30 個基點有利於結果，這不在我們的指導範圍內。非 GAAP 營運支出總額為 7.36 億美元，佔營收的 23.5%，較去年同期增加 800 萬美元，較第四季減少 5,500 萬美元。這比我們指導範圍的中點低了 1900 萬美元，這主要是由於可變薪酬的減少和主動的費用控制相結合。

From a total operating profit perspective, non-GAAP operating profit was $1.08 billion, and non-GAAP operating margin was 34.5%, down 30 basis points year-on-year and 60 basis points above the midpoint of our guidance range. Non-GAAP interest expense was $64 million, with taxes for ongoing operations of $171 million or a 16.8% non-GAAP effective tax rate. Noncontrolling interest was $5 million and stock-based compensation, which is not included in our non-GAAP earnings, was $115 million.

從總營業利潤來看，非 GAAP 營業利潤為 10.8 億美元，非 GAAP 營業利潤率為 34.5%，年減 30 個基點，比我們指導範圍的中點高 60 個基點。非 GAAP 利息支出為 6,400 萬美元，持續營業稅為 1.71 億美元，即非 GAAP 有效稅率為 16.8%。非控制權益為 500 萬美元，基於股票的薪酬（不包括在我們的非 GAAP 收益中）為 1.15 億美元。

Now I would like to turn to the changes in our cash and debt. Our total debt at the end of Q1 was $10.18 billion, down $997 million as we repaid the 4.875% bonds that was due on March 1, 2024. Our ending cash balance, including short-term deposits was $3.31 billion, down $963 million sequentially due to the cumulative effect of debt repayment, capital returns, CapEx investments and cash generation during Q1. The result -- the resulting net debt was $6.9 billion, and we exited the quarter with a trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA of $5.4 billion. Our ratio of net debt to trailing 12-month adjusted EBITDA at the end of Q1 was 1.3x, and our 12-month adjusted EBITDA interest coverage ratio was 22.8x.

現在我想談談我們的現金和債務的變化。第一季末我們的總債務為101.8 億美元，減少了9.97 億美元，因為我們償還了2024 年3 月1 日到期的4.875% 債券。 ，比上一季減少了9.63 億美元第一季債務償還、資本回報、資本支出投資和現金產生的累積效應。結果——由此產生的淨債務為 69 億美元，本季結束時，過去 12 個月的調整後 EBITDA 為 54 億美元。第一季末，我們的淨負債與過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 的比率為 1.3 倍，12 個月調整後 EBITDA 利息保障倍數為 22.8 倍。

During Q1, we paid $261 million in cash dividends, and we repurchased $303 million of our shares. Subsequent to the end of Q1, and through Friday, April 26, we repurchased an additional $97 million of shares under an established 10b5-1 program.

第一季度，我們支付了 2.61 億美元的現金股息，並回購了 3.03 億美元的股票。第一季末到 4 月 26 日星期五，我們根據既定的 10b5-1 計畫額外回購了 9,700 萬美元的股票。

Turning to working capital metrics. Days of inventory was 144 days, an increase of 12 days sequentially while distribution channel inventory was 1.6 months or about 7 weeks. As we have highlighted throughout the previous year, given the uncertain demand environment, we continue to make the intentional choice to limit inventory in the channel while keeping inventory on our balance sheet to enable greater flexibility to redirect product as needed. Days receivables were 26 days, up 2 days sequentially and days payable were 65 days, a decrease of 7 days versus the prior quarter. Taken together, our cash conversion cycle was 105 days, an increase of 21 days versus the prior quarter. Cash flow from operations was $851 million, and net CapEx was $224 million or approximately 7% of revenue, resulting in non-GAAP free cash flow of $627 million or about 20% of revenue.

轉向營運資本指標。庫存天數為 144 天，比上一季增加 12 天，而分銷通路庫存為 1.6 個月或約 7 週。正如我們在過去一年中所強調的那樣，鑑於需求環境的不確定性，我們繼續有意選擇限制通路庫存，同時將庫存保留在我們的資產負債表上，以便能夠更靈活地根據需要重新調整產品。應收帳款天數為26天，較上季增加2天，應付帳款天數為65天，較上季減少7天。總的來說，我們的現金週轉週期為 105 天，比上一季增加了 21 天。營運現金流為 8.51 億美元，淨資本支出為 2.24 億美元，約佔收入的 7%，因此非 GAAP 自由現金流為 6.27 億美元，約佔收入的 20%。

Turning now to our expectations for the second quarter. As Kurt mentioned, we anticipate Q2 revenue to be $3.125 billion, plus or minus about $100 million. At the midpoint, this is down 5% year-on-year and flat sequentially. We expect non-GAAP gross margin to be about 58.5%, plus or minus 50 basis points, which includes approximately 60 basis points associated with the change of our useful life estimates for our internal front-end manufacturing equipment. As Kurt noted in his prepared remarks, we will begin to stage slightly higher inventory in the channel to support our competitiveness for the anticipated second half growth. Therefore, our guidance assumes approximately 1.7 months of distribution channel inventory exiting Q2.

現在轉向我們對第二季的預期。正如 Kurt 所提到的，我們預計第二季營收為 31.25 億美元，上下浮動約 1 億美元。中間值年減 5%，與上一季持平。我們預計非 GAAP 毛利率約為 58.5%，正負 50 個基點，其中包括與我們內部前端製造設備的使用壽命估計變化相關的約 60 個基點。正如庫爾特在他準備好的演講中指出的那樣，我們將開始在通路中增加庫存，以支持我們的競爭力，以實現預期的下半年成長。因此，我們的指導假設第二季的分銷通路庫存約為 1.7 個月。

Operating expenses are expected to be about $765 million, plus or minus about $10 million. The sequential increase is primarily driven by our annual merit increases and the $15 million license fee paid to Impinj as part of our legal settlement. Taken together, we see non-GAAP operating margin to be 34% at the midpoint. We estimate non-GAAP financial expense to be $63 million, with a non-GAAP tax rate to be 16.8% of profit before tax. Noncontrolling interest and other will be about $5 million. For Q2, we suggest for modeling purposes, you use an average share count of 258.5 million shares. We expect stock-based compensation, which is not included in our non-GAAP guidance to be $115 million. For capital expenditures, we expect to be around 6%. Taken together at the midpoint, this implies a non-GAAP earnings per share of $3.20.

營運費用預計約 7.65 億美元，上下浮動約 1,000 萬美元。這一環比增長主要是由於我們的年度績效增長以及作為法律和解協議的一部分向 Impinj 支付的 1500 萬美元許可費推動的。總而言之，我們預期非 GAAP 營業利益率為 34%。我們預計非 GAAP 財務費用為 6,300 萬美元，非 GAAP 稅率為稅前利潤的 16.8%。非控制權益及其他權益約為 500 萬美元。對於第二季度，出於建模目的，我們建議您使用 2.585 億股的平均股數。我們預計以股票為基礎的薪酬（未包含在我們的非公認會計準則指引中）為 1.15 億美元。對於資本支出，我們預計約為 6%。按中點計算，這意味著非 GAAP 每股收益為 3.20 美元。

In closing, looking through the remainder of 2024, I'd like to highlight a few focus areas for NXP. First, from a performance standpoint, we will continue to navigate a soft landing through a challenging and cyclical demand environment with a cautious optimism for a second half improvement in our business. Second, we will continue to be disciplined to manage what is in our control and stay within our long-term financial model. Specifically, we expect our gross margin will continue to perform at or above the high end of the long-term model while maintaining internal fab utilization levels in the low 70s for the remainder of the year.

最後，回顧 2024 年剩餘時間，我想強調恩智浦的幾個重點領域。首先，從業績角度來看，我們將繼續在充滿挑戰和週期性的需求環境中實現軟著陸，並對下半年業務的改善持謹慎樂觀態度。其次，我們將繼續嚴格管理我們控制範圍內的事情，並保持在我們的長期財務模式之內。具體來說，我們預計我們的毛利率將繼續保持在或高於長期車型的高端水平，同時在今年剩餘時間內將內部晶圓廠利用率保持在 70 左右的低水平。

Third, there is no change to our capital allocation policy, where we have returned $2.4 billion over the last 12 months. Furthermore, we will continue to be active in the market repurchasing NXP shares. And lastly, we are excited to host an Investor Day on November 7 in Boston. The specific details will be available soon on the NXP Investor Relations homepage. We look forward to you joining us.

第三，我們的資本配置政策沒有變化，過去 12 個月我們已返還 24 億美元。此外，我們將繼續在市場上積極回購恩智浦股票。最後，我們很高興於 11 月 7 日在波士頓舉辦投資者日活動。具體細節將很快在恩智浦投資者關係主頁上公佈。我們期待您的加入。

I'd like to now turn it back to the operator for questions.

我現在想將其轉回給接線員詢問問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question comes from the line of Vivek Arya with Bank of America Securities.

（操作員指令）我們的第一個問題來自 Vivek Arya 與美國銀行證券的線路。

For the first one, Kurt, I think you gave a very clear explanation of kind of the cautious optimism around Automotive in the second half of the year. My question is kind of a more medium- to longer-term question. In the past, you gave a 9% to 14% growth target for your Automotive business. And since then, a lot of things have changed, right, with the slowdown in EVs and inflation and all those other things. What is the right way to think about NXP's long-term Automotive growth prospect? What's -- is it a simple formula that connects production growth to your sales growth targets?

對於第一個問題，庫爾特，我認為您對下半年汽車行業的謹慎樂觀態度做出了非常明確的解釋。我的問題是一個更中長期的問題。過去，您為汽車業務設定了 9% 至 14% 的成長目標。從那時起，隨著電動車和通貨膨脹以及所有其他事情的放緩，很多事情都發生了變化，對吧。思考恩智浦汽車長期成長前景的正確方法是什麼？這是一個將產量成長與銷售成長目標連結起來的簡單公式嗎？

Yes. So first of all, let me augment what you said, the cautious optimism, which I expressed for the second half is not limited to Automotive. It is important to note that, that cautious optimism for second half growth over first half is actually across the company. It's very broad-based. It's across distribution and direct and it is across all of our segments.

是的。首先，讓我補充一下你所說的，我對下半年表達的謹慎樂觀情緒不僅限於汽車領域。值得注意的是，與上半年相比，整個公司實際上對下半年的成長持謹慎樂觀態度。它的基礎非常廣泛。它跨越分銷和直銷，跨越我們所有的細分市場。

Now coming back to your original question, longer-term Automotive growth. Yes, we had a guide of 9% to 14% from '21 to '24. Now we are in '24. It's actually good to see that Automotive is probably the one segment which is going to hit the target this year of the 9% to 14% and we will, as Bill said at the end of his prepared remarks, we will host an Investor Day in November where we will come out with the new growth targets for the next 3 years for all of our segments, including Automotive.

現在回到你原來的問題，長期汽車成長。是的，我們從 21 年到 24 年的指導值為 9% 到 14%。現在我們已經進入24世紀了。事實上，很高興看到汽車行業可能是今年將達到 9% 至 14% 目標的一個領域，正如比爾在準備好的演講結束時所說，我們將在 2019 年舉辦投資者日活動。我們將為包括汽車在內的所有細分市場制定未來3 年的新成長目標。

Now -- so I will not be able to give you a number today for the next 3 years for Automotive, but directionally, Vivek, the -- I would say, the algorithm isn't that much different from the history because we see the content drivers very much in place. And you know that we are, as NXP very well benefiting both from ADAS as well as from the electrification trends and mainly on the mid- to longer-term basis from a trend to software-defined vehicles where our industry-leading franchise in processing is certainly going to win. So that continues, which means in the end, the SAAR as an underlying mechanism probably becomes less relevant. And I would also tell you that we think pricing will be certainly to start with sustainable from where we come from. You know that we have the NXP increased prices over the past 3 years. We said it will be neutral this year. And as I said earlier, for the coming years, maybe we go back to a very small, low single-digit ASP erosion per year.

現在——所以我今天無法給你們未來三年汽車行業的數字，但從方向上看，Vivek——我想說，該演算法與歷史沒有太大不同，因為我們看到內容驅動力非常到位。您知道，作為恩智浦，我們從 ADAS 和電氣化趨勢中受益匪淺，而且主要是在中長期基礎上從軟體定義汽車的趨勢中受益，我們在處理領域領先的專營權是肯定會贏。這樣的情況持續下去，這意味著最終，SAAR 作為基礎機制可能會變得不那麼重要。我還要告訴你，我們認為定價肯定會從我們的家鄉開始，可持續發展。您知道恩智浦在過去 3 年裡提高了價格。我們說過今年將保持中立。正如我之前所說，在未來幾年中，也許我們會回到每年非常小、低個位數的平均售價侵蝕。

I mean, that is to be discussed in the coming years. But nothing out of the normal, I would say, and especially not pricing coming back to where it was pre-COVID. I mean that's really important for that algorithm. So please bear with us, Vivek, for the November Investor Day and we come with exact numbers. But I just wanted to signal to you, you should not expect massive changes here.

我的意思是，這將在未來幾年進行討論。但我想說，沒有什麼不正常的，尤其是價格沒有回到新冠疫情之前的水平。我的意思是這對於該演算法非常重要。因此，請耐心等待，Vivek，在 11 月投資者日，我們將帶來確切的數字。但我只是想告訴你，你不應該期待這裡有巨大的改變。

Got it. And then, Kurt, kind of a more near-term or sort of just calendar '24 question on your Automotive business. So last year, your Auto sales grew about 9%, about in line with Auto production, right? So despite better pricing, i.e., you somewhat undershipped. What is the assumption for the entirety of calendar '24 because your Auto sales seem to be declining sequentially in Q2. So is the assumption that they pick back up and they do better than production in the back up? Just what is kind of the puts and takes for how you're thinking about Automotive for the entire year?

知道了。然後，庫爾特，這是一個關於您的汽車業務的更近期或只是日曆 '24 的問題。去年，你們的汽車銷量成長了約 9%，與汽車產量大致一致，對吧？因此，儘管定價更好，但你們的出貨量還是有些不足。由於您的汽車銷售在第二季度似乎連續下降，因此對 24 整個日曆的假設是什麼？那麼，假設他們回升並且他們的表現比回升時的生產更好嗎？您對全年汽車產業的看法是什麼？

Yes. Look, indeed, you had it quite right for last year. The 9% growth of Automotive revenues was actually in a very strong SAAR year. I think the SAAR last year was something in the order of almost 10% growth year-on-year, so spectacularly high. And indeed, NXP did increase price from a corporate total company perspective by 8%. So yes, we totally undershipped already last year, which is -- which was part of the soft lending strategy, which we are pursuing. So we think we have already started to correct the Automotive revenue and the inventory situation in the direct customers since mid of last year and in the distribution channel already way back because we number went above 1.6. Now when you think about this year, Vivek, it is indeed -- the macro is a little different. The latest S&P numbers would suggest a 0% SAAR for this year and a bit of a moderation in the EV penetration.

是的。聽著，確實，去年你說得非常對。汽車收入 9% 的成長實際上是在 SAAR 非常強勁的一年中實現的。我認為去年的 SAAR 年比增長了近 10%，非常高。事實上，從整個公司的角度來看，恩智浦確實將價格提高了 8%。所以，是的，我們去年的出貨量已經完全不足，這是我們正在追求的軟貸款策略的一部分。因此，我們認為，自去年中期以來，我們已經開始糾正直接客戶的汽車收入和庫存狀況，而分銷管道的庫存狀況早在很久以前就已經開始，因為我們的數字超過了 1.6。現在，維韋克，當你回想今年時，宏觀情況確實有點不同。最新的標準普爾數據顯示，今年的年增長率為 0%，電動車普及率略有放緩。

I say that very carefully, Vivek because I think the headlines we all see about EV slowdown are more dramatic than what it really is. S&P is still talking about 20-plus percent unit growth of xEV, so hybrids and full EVs for this year, which is still a very strong growth. What really drives our revenue number, however, this year is the inventory digestion with the direct customers. Clearly, in Q1, and now with the guide, which we just gave for the second quarter, we are digesting inventory with our direct Automotive Tier 1 customers. If this is exactly done by the end of Q2 or if it takes a little bit into Q3, very hard to say. However, we have any indication that the second half in Automotive this year is going to grow solidly above the first half of this year. And that is actually driven both by company-specific enablers. So we have RADAR platforms, which are strongly ramping in the second half.

Vivek，我這麼說是非常謹慎的，因為我認為我們所看到的有關電動車放緩的頭條新聞比實際情況更加引人注目。標準普爾仍在談論今年 xEV、混合動力車和純電動車的銷量成長 20% 以上，這仍然是一個非常強勁的成長。然而，今年真正推動我們收入成長的是直接客戶的庫存消化。顯然，在第一季度，現在根據我們剛剛提供的第二季度指南，我們正在與直接汽車一級客戶一起消化庫存。如果這完全在第二季度末完成，或者是否需要進入第三季度，很難說。然而，我們有任何跡象表明，今年下半年的汽車產業將比今年上半年穩定成長。這實際上是由公司特定的推動因素所驅動的。因此，我們有雷達平台，這些平台將在下半年強勁成長。

But of course, it is also driven then by the normalization of that inventory digestion which means we would move in the second half from under shipping end demand to meeting end demand again. I will not give you the full year growth number, Vivek. We don't guide the full year by segment. Actually, we only guide the next quarter. But when I said the whole company is modestly up or down for the full year and Automotive is more than 50% of the company, then you can guess that Automotive is probably not that far from the same number.

但當然，這也是由庫存消化正常化所推動的，這意味著我們將在下半年從運輸終端需求不足轉向再次滿足終端需求。我不會給你全年的成長數字，Vivek。我們不按部門指導全年。實際上，我們只指導下個季度。但當我說整個公司全年略有上漲或下跌並且汽車業務占公司的 50% 以上時，您可以猜測汽車業務可能與這個數字相差不遠。

Our next question comes from the line of Ross Seymore with Deutsche Bank.

我們的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Ross Seymore。

Kurt, I want to get into a little bit of the increased comfort that apparently you're feeling with the desire to start refilling the channel. I know you did a little bit of it in the first quarter, but the second quarter, it seems like your optimism has increased a little bit sequentially, even despite the Automotive side being guided down. And I know you went through each of the segments specifically. But if you step back at a higher level, what's giving you the confidence? What's improved to give you the confidence to fill the channel?

庫爾特，我想談談你明顯感覺到的增加的舒適感，以及開始重新填充頻道的願望。我知道您在第一季做了一些事情，但在第二季度，儘管汽車方面受到引導，但您的樂觀情緒似乎連續增加了一點。我知道您具體經歷了每個部分。但如果你退到更高的層次，又是什麼給你信心呢？哪些改進讓您有信心填補管道？

Yes. So first of all, Q1, honestly, the 1.6, and you are right, we came from 1.5 in Q4. It's just been hovering around 1.5 and 1.6. It's very hard to keep this strictly to one number. So I'd say Q1 wasn't really intentional. It's just -- if you look back over the past, I don't know, 12 quarters, we've always been jumping up and down between 1.5 and 1.6. Quarter 2, yes. This is intentional. So we want to try to get it to 1.7 for the exit of quarter 2. And indeed, it is based on growing still cautious optimism for the second half. Now what is giving us that optimism.

是的。首先，第一季度，老實說，是 1.6，你是對的，我們來自第四季的 1.5。一直徘徊在1.5和1.6左右。很難將這一數字嚴格限制在一個數字。所以我想說 Q1 並不是故意的。只是——如果你回顧過去，我不知道，12 個季度，我們總是在 1.5 和 1.6 之間上下波動。第二季度，是的。這是故意的。因此，我們希望在第二季結束時將其達到 1.7。現在是什麼讓我們如此樂觀。

It is really a mix between cyclical considerations and very company-specific considerations. I think in the question of Vivek, a minute ago, I mentioned in Automotive, we have company-specific platforms, which are ramping in the second half where we sit almost every day with our customers and discuss the organization of that ramp. So we just know that's going to happen. Secondly, and Bill mentioned that in his prepared remarks, we have the settlement with Impinj for the RFID tagging business and the fact that the 2 market-leading franchises or companies in that market space, NXP and Impinj have settled here was a positive catalyst, I would say, to the market development for RFID tagging.

這實際上是周期性考慮因素和公司特定考慮因素的混合體。我認為，在Vivek 的問題上，一分鐘前，我在《汽車》中提到，我們有公司特定的平台，這些平台將在下半年進行擴展，我們幾乎每天都與客戶坐在一起討論該擴展的組織。所以我們只知道這將會發生。其次，Bill 提到，在他準備好的發言中，我們與Impinj 就RFID 標籤業務達成了和解，而該市場領域的兩家市場領先的特許經營商或公司NXP 和Impinj 已在這裡達成和解，這是一個正面的催化劑，我想說的是RFID標籤的市場發展。

So we see a positive development there, which is then also playing into the second half over first half in our Communication Infrastructure & Other businesses. And then thirdly, and that's more on the cyclical side, we clearly see that the Automotive Tier 1 inventories will normalize. So then we just go back to shipping to run rates. So there's nothing spectacular happening. The demand is there already today but we are still digesting inventory. And in the second half, so we don't expect that there is more car production or more EVs or anything. It is simply that we ship to end demand. But the same holds even more true for Industrial & IoT, where we come from an extremely lean travel position, that Industrial & IoT business is largely exposed to China. You might also have seen that the PMI in China is actually developing quite nicely.

因此，我們看到了那裡的積極發展，這在我們的通訊基礎設施和其他業務中也比上半年發揮了作用。第三，更多的是在週期性方面，我們清楚地看到汽車一級庫存將正常化。那我們就回到運費運轉率。所以並沒有發生什麼了不起的事。今天需求已經存在，但我們仍在消化庫存。在下半年，我們預計不會有更多的汽車產量或更多的電動車或任何東西。很簡單，我們是為了滿足最終需求而出貨。但對於工業和物聯網來說更是如此，我們的旅遊地位極為精簡，工業和物聯網業務主要面向中國。您可能還看到，中國的 PMI 實際上發展得相當不錯。

So we do see both in the core Industrial as well as in this Consumer IoT business, which is in that segment, we see sequential improvement, and that is the main reason actually that we are staging the channel because we absolutely want to be sure we have a competitive position on the shelves of our distribution partners entering into the third and fourth quarter.

因此，我們確實在核心工業以及消費者物聯網業務中都看到了這一點，我們看到了連續的改進，這實際上是我們部署該管道的主要原因，因為我們絕對希望確保我們進入第三和第四季度，我們在分銷合作夥伴的貨架上擁有競爭地位。

I guess since you mentioned the Impinj side, Bill, you're doing a great job on the OpEx. You came in below your guide in the first quarter. The second quarter, you included, you said a $15 million payment for that. Can you just give us an idea of, one, is that Impinj payments a onetime deal, and so it goes away after this quarter? And then more importantly, what are your thoughts on the OpEx side of things? If the optimism on the revenue side is increasing, should we expect the OpEx to increase with variable comp or any of those sorts of drivers?

Bill，我猜既然你提到了 Impinj 方面，你在營運支出方面就做得很好了。第一季你的表現低於你的指導值。第二季度，你說為此支付了 1500 萬美元。您能否向我們介紹一下，第一，Impinj 支付的是一次性交易，所以在本季之後就會消失嗎？更重要的是，您對營運支出有何看法？如果收入方面的樂觀情緒正在增加，我們是否應該預期營運支出會隨著可變補償或任何此類驅動因素而增加？

Sure. Let me break those 2 apart. So the agreement that we have with Impinj is the annual cross license, which will impact us on a go-forward basis, about $15 million in the second quarter and it rose slightly, but that could stop any time in the future once we have the work around complete. And again, I don't know exactly the exact timing, but that's something that we're pursuing internally. Related to our OpEx, clearly, you can see we're somewhat out of model in Q2, but that's really driven by our annual merit increases. So we have a combination of both those impacts occurring in Q2, the $15 million plus the annual merit increases. But what's offsetting some of that impact is also our proactiveness on our expense controls and you saw that in Q1 as well and some lower variable compensation.

當然。讓我把這兩個分開。因此，我們與 Impinj 達成的協議是年度交叉許可，這將對我們的未來產生影響，第二季度約為 1500 萬美元，略有上升，但一旦我們有了工作完成。再說一次，我不知道確切的時間，但這是我們內部正在追求的事情。顯然，與我們的營運支出相關，您可以看到我們在第二季度有些脫離模型，但這實際上是由我們的年度績效成長所推動的。因此，我們將第二季發生的這兩種影響結合在一起，即 1500 萬美元加上年度績效成長。但抵銷部分影響的還有我們對費用控制的積極主動，您在第一季也看到了這一點，以及一些較低的可變薪酬。

So as we think about the second half, and I think this is where you're going, is where are we headed with OpEx. And what we're going to try to do is make sure we get back into that model, as you know, around that 23% as we think about the second half.

因此，當我們考慮下半年時，我認為這是您的發展方向，也是我們營運支出的發展方向。我們要做的就是確保我們回到那個模型，正如你所知，當我們考慮下半年時，大約是 23%。

Our next question comes from the line of C.J. Muse with Cantor Fitzgerald.

我們的下一個問題來自 C.J. Muse 和 Cantor Fitzgerald 的台詞。

I guess first question on gross margins. If I take into account the change in the depreciation on equipment, you're essentially pro forma guiding gross margins flat. And I guess -- I would have thought maybe you would have had a little bit of a [kit] from the channel refill as you take it one more month. And so I guess if you can kind of comment what might be an offset there.

我想第一個問題是關於毛利率的。如果我考慮到設備折舊的變化，預計毛利率基本上持平。我想——我以為當你再服用一個月時，也許你會從管道補充中得到一點[套件]。所以我想你是否可以評論那裡可能存在的抵消。

And then considering your vision for utilization rates to stay kind of where they are through the remainder of the year, how should we be thinking about the trajectory for gross margins into the second half?

然後考慮到您對利用率在今年剩餘時間內保持在現有水平的願景，我們應該如何考慮下半年毛利率的軌跡？

Yes. You're right. So obviously, if you adjust for the accounting, basically, we're kind of flattish guiding to flat and again, it's within our plus or minus 50 basis points, I'm not really that good for $3 million or 10 basis points. But again, there's all sorts of puts and takes in that, and part of the reason for the useful life, I would say, accounting change. As you know, every year, we have to go look at this from accounting and related to this specific topic, there was a number of factors considered, which includes the NXP product life cycle, age of tools and the market analysis. And this is something that we just how to go do, and we did it.

是的。你說得對。很明顯，如果你對會計進行調整，基本上，我們的指導是持平的，而且，它在我們的正負 50 個基點之內，我真的不太適合 300 萬美元或 10 個基點。但同樣，這裡面有各種各樣的投入和投入，我想說，這也是使用壽命的部分原因，會計變化。如您所知，每年我們都必須從會計和與這個特定主題相關的角度來看待這個問題，考慮了許多因素，其中包括恩智浦產品生命週期、工具的年齡和市場分析。這是我們要做的事情，我們做到了。

We think it's the right thing to do, and we're calling it out, so it's very clear. And to be honest with you, we expect now to run at or above our long-term model, versus our previous commentary where we said near or at the gross margin. And what levers we have, some of the tailwinds, as we mentioned before in our previous calls, C.J. is clearly, our utilizations are running below the 70%. So that eventually will go back up and becomes a tailwind. We talked about higher revenues fall through over that 30% fixed cost. Again, that should help. We discussed about replenishing the distribution channel, that's where you were applying with your question, just that one, you should get something.

我們認為這是正確的做法，我們正在大聲疾呼，所以這是非常明確的。老實說，我們預計現在的業績將達到或高於我們的長期模型，而不是我們之前所說的接近或等於毛利率。我們擁有哪些槓桿，一些有利因素，正如我們在之前的電話會議中提到的，C.J. 顯然，我們的利用率低於 70%。因此，這最終會回升並成為順風。我們談到，超過 30% 的固定成本會帶來更高的收入。再說一遍，這應該有幫助。我們討論了補充分銷管道，這就是您提出問題的地方，就這一點，您應該得到一些東西。

But you're right, over time, when we bring that back up to target, that should be a lever for us. to carry the higher margin. We're also -- we talked about expanding customer reach within the mass market. That just takes time. And now internally, the team is focused on productivity improvements, cost reductions, and over the longer time horizon, we explained this many, many times, it's really our new product introductions layering on top of our business. So continue to move that. So we have an Analyst Day or Investor Day coming up on November 7. We'll break that out in more details and update that model. But hopefully, you guys can see that even through the downturn, we're managing margins quite well and 58% or 58.5% with the accounting adjustment, that's not our end destination.

但你是對的，隨著時間的推移，當我們將其恢復到目標時，這應該成為我們的槓桿。以獲得更高的利潤。我們也討論了擴大大眾市場的客戶範圍。這只是需要時間。現在，在內部，團隊專注於提高生產力、降低成本，從長遠來看，我們解釋了很多很多次，這實際上是我們在業務之上推出的新產品。所以繼續推動這一點。因此，我們將於 11 月 7 日舉辦分析師日或投資者日。但希望你們能看到，即使在經濟低迷時期，我們的利潤率也管理得很好，會計調整後達到 58% 或 58.5%，但這不是我們的最終目標。

Excellent. And then a question for Kurt. As you look back to the COVID period and kind of the initiation of NCNR programs, it sounds like that has really been at the most senior levels with you and focused on volume, not price. I'm curious, just as you look forward, how did that kind of help nurture your customer relationships? And what potential benefits might you see ahead as we progress into a world where NCNRs are no longer part of the business?

出色的。然後問庫爾特一個問題。當您回顧新冠疫情時期以及 NCNR 計劃的啟動時，您會發現最高層確實關注的是數量，而不是價格。我很好奇，正如您所期望的那樣，這對培養您的客戶關係有何幫助？當我們進入一個 NCNR 不再成為業務一部分的世界時，您可能會看到哪些潛在的好處？

Yes. A couple of considerations here, C.J. The one is just to remind everybody our NCNR programs have ended with the calendar year '23. So since January 1, there is nothing anymore under any NCNR program. However, I would very strongly say, and I pointed out because I know that some industry peers had very different opinion on this. The way how we had our program was actually good. I would do it again. It did help because, in our particular case, it did put us closer together and we learned much earlier about over inventory build because there was an agreement underneath, which forced the customer to the table to tell us that things would be running too high if we don't jointly try to correct and that is the reason why we undershipped already all of last year in Automotive. And I think I started to speak about this in the Q1 earnings call already last year that there was first signs of building inventory with Tier 1 Automotive customers.

是的。這裡有幾個考慮因素，C.J.，其中一個只是提醒大家，我們的 NCNR 計劃已於 23 年結束。因此，自 1 月 1 日起，任何 NCNR 計劃都不再有任何內容。不過，我會非常強烈地說，並指出，因為我知道一些業內同行對此有非常不同的看法。我們制定計劃的方式實際上很好。我會再做一次。它確實有幫助，因為在我們的特殊情況下，它確實使我們更加緊密地聯繫在一起，而且我們很早就了解到庫存過多的情況，因為下面有一項協議，這迫使客戶到桌前告訴我們，如果我們沒有共同努力糾正，這就是為什麼我們去年一整年在汽車領域的出貨量都不足的原因。我想我在去年第一季的財報電話會議上就開始談論這一點，即出現了與一級汽車客戶建立庫存的初步跡象。

Again, that would not -- we wouldn't have seen that. We wouldn't have learned about it without NCNR. Now from a more strategic perspective, C.J., I think this is all about how does this industry learn from the supply crisis to not run into the trap again to try and apply just-in-time concepts with semiconductor products, which have a 3 to 4 months manufacturing cycle time. And I would say I have mixed emotions about this, C.J. On the one hand, I'd say the Automotive OEM customers and some of the Industrial OEM customers are very thoughtful, and we have entered into long-term agreements into programs where we know how to deal with inventory in order -- in a very specific way about those products, which are most critical. So I'd say there is good learning in place, and that's clearly a step forward beyond NCNRs.

再說一遍，那不會——我們不會看到這一點。如果沒有 NCNR，我們就不會了解到這一點。現在，從更具策略性的角度來看，C.J.，我認為這就是這個行業如何從供應危機中吸取教訓，以免再次陷入陷阱，嘗試將即時概念應用於半導體產品，這些產品具有 3 到4 個月的製造週期。我想說，我對此心情複雜，C.J。的方式處理那些最關鍵的產品。所以我想說，這裡有很好的學習，這顯然比 NCNR 向前邁出了一步。

With some of our direct customers, however, we clearly see that now under the pressure of working capital requirements, they tend to become very tactical when it comes to reducing inventories again. From my perspective, too far down. So I would go that far that we see inventory targets of some of our direct customers, not all but some, which I believe are starting to pose a risk when I think about the next uptick. And what I mean with the risk is that we get again into supply trouble because the short reaction time, which would be required then to ship again much more suddenly it's going to be very hard and that is compounded by the fact that, that supply chain is a very deep one. So it's not just one partner which we ship to and then it goes to the car company, but it's typically 2 or 3 or 4 stages, and they all reduce inventory.

然而，對於我們的一些直接客戶，我們清楚地看到，現在在營運資金需求的壓力下，他們在再次減少庫存時往往會變得非常有策略。從我的角度來看，太落後了。因此，我會說，我們看到了一些直接客戶的庫存目標，不是全部，而是一些，我認為當我考慮下一次上漲時，這些目標開始構成風險。我的意思是，風險是我們再次陷入供應困境，因為反應時間短，然後突然再次發貨，這將非常困難，而且供應鏈這一事實使情況變得更加複雜。因此，我們不僅僅是運送給一個合作夥伴，然後再運送給汽車公司，而是通常分為 2、3 或 4 個階段，它們都會減少庫存。

And at some point, they all will want to increase inventory again. And that is what drives the cycle. So I'd say on the OEM side, good learnings in the post NCNR time, C.J. with the direct customers, it is a more mixed picture, unfortunately.

在某些時候，他們都會想再次增加庫存。這就是驅動週期的原因。所以我想說，在 OEM 方面，在 NCNR 後的時間裡，C.J. 與直接客戶的良好學習，不幸的是，這是一個更加複雜的情況。

Our next question comes from the line of Chris Danely with Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗銀行的 Chris Danely。

Kurt, just, I guess, a longer-term question on the Automotive end market. What are your thoughts on the relative growth rates of hybrids versus EVs? And then also, it seems like BYD has been a little bit better than Tesla this year. Do you expect those 2 trends to continue? And then what are the impacts, if any, to NXP? Or does it not matter?

庫爾特，我想，這只是汽車終端市場的長期問題。您對混合動力車與電動車的相對成長率有何看法？而且，今年比亞迪的表現似乎比特斯拉好一點。您預計這兩種趨勢會持續下去嗎？那麼對恩智浦有何影響（如果有的話）？還是沒關係？

These are interesting questions, Chris, which we also think about very hard. Let me try and dissect it. The one is -- and I think I said this in my prepared remarks earlier, the xEV, so if you combine hybrids and battery electric vehicles, continues to grow pretty well. And -- but that is carried by China. And the reason why many media headlines suggest it is not going well is that Europe and the U.S. are actually quite small in xEVs. To be more specific, if you take the total xEVs worldwide, only 12% of those are in the U.S. and 24% are in Europe while China holds 44% and BYD indeed is a big part of that. And that China 44%, Chris, is growing this year according to S&P by 27% in volume.

克里斯，這些都是有趣的問題，我們也非常認真地思考。讓我嘗試剖析一下。其中一個是——我想我在之前準備好的發言中已經說過了，xEV，所以如果你把混合動力汽車和電池電動車結合起來，它會繼續增長得相當好。而且──但那是由中國承擔的。許多媒體頭條表明進展不順利的原因是歐洲和美國的混合動力汽車規模實際上很小。更具體地說，如果你看一下全球 xEV 總量，其中只有 12% 在美國，24% 在歐洲，而中國則佔 44%，比亞迪確實佔了很大一部分。根據標準普爾的數據，中國 44% 的數量今年增加了 27%。

So what I tried to say was that is the xEV in total, certainly keeps growing nicely. Now if you go into the split between BEV and hybrid, so fully electric and hybrid electric, then I'd say it isn't that difficult. The battery electric vehicles are still only 15%, but they grow by 25%. Hybrids are 24% but grow with 17%. So the one has a smaller base and grows faster. The other one has a bigger base and growth a bit slower. I think on the long run, Chris, and that's more from a technical perspective, BEVs will win the race. I think this hybrid thing is an intermediate period. I do believe on the long run, it will all tilt to BEVs. Once battery and electronics technology gives a tough range.

所以我想說的是，xEV 總量肯定會保持良好成長。現在，如果你要區分純電動車和混合動力車，也就是純電動車和混合動力車，那麼我會說這並不是那麼困難。純電動車仍然只有15%，但成長了25%。混合動力車佔 24%，但成長了 17%。所以基數較小，成長較快。另一種基數較大，成長速度較慢。克里斯，我認為從長遠來看，更多的是從技術角度來看，純電動車將贏得比賽。我認為這種混合的東西是一個中間時期。我確實相信，從長遠來看，一切都會向純電動車傾斜。一旦電池和電子技術提供了一個艱難的範圍。

I mean, then the whole concept of a hybrid is actually not meaningful anymore. Now for NXP, it doesn't matter that much as it does to some of our peers because only very little of our product portfolio has a strict exposure to BEV only. It is actually only the high-voltage battery management solutions. Everything else also plays in hybrid. So that's very different to people who have silicon carbide, for example, which only goes into one and not in the other. So therefore, Chris, I don't know exactly how that plays also over the short term. But it's also not relevant very much to our revenue. On the long term, I'm sure it is going to tail back all to be EVs again. Tesla against BYD, I don't want to call it, Chris. I would just say that Chinese and there is much more than BYD are extremely competitive and aggressive. I'm very glad that we have a great exposure to them because I do believe that a large part of the global electric growth will continue to come from China. Now how Tesla plays with that or in that, I don't know. But certainly, China is going to be the majority in the end, and that's -- again, that's BYD plus.

我的意思是，那麼混合動力的整個概念實際上就不再有意義了。現在對恩智浦來說，這並不像我們的一些同行那麼重要，因為我們的產品組合中只有很少的部分嚴格地只涉及純電動車。它實際上只是高壓電池管理解決方案。其他一切也都以混合方式發揮作用。因此，這與擁有碳化矽的人有很大不同，例如，碳化矽只進入其中一種，而不進入另一種。因此，克里斯，我不知道短期內的具體情況如何。但這與我們的收入也沒有太大關係。從長遠來看，我確信電動車將會再次回歸。特斯拉對抗比亞迪，我不想這麼稱呼它，克里斯。我只想說，中國人以及比比亞迪更多的人極具競爭力和侵略性。我很高興我們與他們有很大的接觸，因為我確實相信全球電力成長的很大一部分將繼續來自中國。現在我不知道特斯拉會如何處理這個問題。但可以肯定的是，中國最終將成為多數，而這又是比亞迪+。

Great. And then just a quick follow-up for Bill. Bill, you said your utilization rates are going to remain kind of flattish in the second half of the year. What would be the catalyst to take them higher? Would it be some sort of inventory days level or even better demand outlook or some combo of both? Can you share what would be a catalyst for higher utilization rates?

偉大的。然後是比爾的快速跟進。比爾，您說過下半年的利用率將保持穩定。推動股價走高的催化劑是什麼？是某種庫存天數水平，還是更好的需求前景，還是兩者的結合？能否分享一下提高利用率的催化劑是什麼？

You're correct. It's the combo of both. As you can imagine, right now, we're at the high end of our model when we look what's in the channel, what do we have on hand. So -- and then we're trying to balance that, stage it appropriately for that second half growth. So it's balancing at quarter-for-quarter, but we want to make sure we continue to do the right thing here and keep inventory in check. And some of that inventory of the 144 days is coming from the fact related to the revenue drop-off from Q4 and so revenue cost is probably impacting that drop by about 14 days. And then we actually decreased their inventory dollars in the quarter by about 2 days or $32 million.

你是對的。這是兩者的結合。正如您可以想像的，現在，當我們查看頻道中的內容以及我們手邊有的內容時，我們正處於模型的高端。所以 - 然後我們試圖平衡這一點，為下半年的增長適當地安排它。因此，每個季度都處於平衡狀態，但我們希望確保繼續做正確的事情並控制庫存。這 144 天的庫存中有一部分來自與第四季度收入下降相關的事實，因此收入成本可能會影響約 14 天的下降。然後，我們實際上將本季的庫存金額減少了約 2 天，即 3,200 萬美元。

So we're trying to balance all of this, all the moving pieces. And I expect that we're going to focus on getting inventory maybe a little bit tighter in the second half, but if growth is higher than our current expectations, clearly, we'll be able to run our factories that increase the utilization there.

所以我們正在努力平衡所有這些、所有變化的部分。我預計下半年我們將重點關注庫存可能會稍微緊張一點，但如果成長高於我們目前的預期，顯然我們將能夠運作我們的工廠，從而提高那裡的利用率。

Our next question comes from the line of Gary Mobley with Wells Fargo Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自富國銀行證券公司的加里‧莫布里 (Gary Mobley)。

Kurt, you seem to be implying that the second half revenue is about 12% higher than the first half or in dollar terms, about $750 million higher. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I would imagine the majority of that delta is inventory restock direct in through distribution. But maybe you can give us a sense of the magnitude of the impact from improving end demand or seasonality there?

Kurt，您似乎在暗示下半年的收入比上半年高出約 12%，或以美元計算，高出約 7.5 億美元。如果我錯了，請糾正我，但我想大部分增量都是透過分銷直接補充庫存。但也許您可以讓我們了解終端需求或季節性改善所帶來的影響有多大？

Yes. First of all, no, that's not what I said. What I said is that the second quarter is guided at $3.125 billion, so you can calculate the first half revenue. And then I said that the full year is somewhere between modestly down to modestly up. And very importantly, I want to stress that, that growth in the second half over the first half is not just coming from the channel.

是的。首先，不，我不是這麼說的。我說的是第二季的指導價是31.25億美元，所以你可以算一下上半年的收入。然後我說全年的情況介於適度下降和適度上升之間。非常重要的是，我想強調的是，下半年相對上半年的成長不僅來自於通路。

We clearly see -- and we have the data points from order patterns, et cetera, that also the direct business is going to grow in the second half over the first half. And I gave 2 examples, I think with Ross earlier. One is Automotive platforms, which are ramping, that is totally independent of the cycle and there is no product on the inventory because it's a new product, which just comes in at the customer.

我們清楚地看到——而且我們有來自訂單模式等的數據點，下半年的直接業務也將比上半年成長。我舉了兩個例子，我想是羅斯早期的例子。一個是汽車平台，它正在加速發展，完全獨立於週期，庫存中沒有產品，因為它是新產品，剛剛交付給客戶。

And it is RFID tagging, which is also with direct customers in parts there -- it has nothing to do with the cycle, but it is the, say, the relief of the industry after the settlement between NXP and Impinj for that market. Very importantly, I also want to say that it is highly unlikely, Gary, that in order to do this, we would go to 2.5 months of channel inventory. So what I said is in quarter 2, we take it to 1.7. So that's one digit up. We are at 1.6, and we want to exit Q2 at 1.7. And if then the demand continues to go the way we preview this, will slightly increase further in Q3 and Q4. I must admit I cannot see a scenario that we would get to 2.4 or 2.5 with that. So the modestly up or down for the full year, does not depend on taking the channels to 2.5 months. So I'm sorry if that was not clear earlier, so I'm glad you did ask, Gary, but that's really not the background to it.

RFID 標籤也與那裡的零件的直接客戶有關——它與週期無關，但它是恩智浦與 Impinj 就該市場達成和解後該行業的解脫。非常重要的是，我還想說，Gary，為了做到這一點，我們不太可能達到 2.5 個月的通路庫存。所以我說的是在第二季度，我們將其提高到 1.7。所以增加了一位數。我們目前處於 1.6，我們希望以 1.7 退出第二季。如果需求繼續按照我們預測的方式發展，第三季和第四季將進一步小幅成長。我必須承認，我看不到我們會達到 2.4 或 2.5 的情況。因此，全年的小幅上漲或下跌並不取決於通路是否達到 2.5 個月。所以我很抱歉，如果之前不清楚，所以我很高興你問了，加里，但這確實不是它的背景。

Okay. Just a quick follow-up for Bill. You did a good job of highlighting the increased depreciation schedule for 5 years to 10 years on internal front-end equipment. What does that do for the long-term capital intensity for the overall company?

好的。只是比爾的快速跟進。您很好地強調了內部前端設備 5 年至 10 年增加的折舊計劃。這對整個公司的長期資本密集度有何影響？

No change. Our current view is our CapEx is to spend 6% to 8%. Again, this is really accounting change that we just dealt with it and moved on.

不用找了。我們目前的觀點是我們的資本支出是 6% 到 8%。再說一遍，這確實是會計變更，我們剛剛處理了它並繼續前進。

Our next question comes from the line of Stacy Rasgon with Bernstein Research.

我們的下一個問題來自伯恩斯坦研究中心的史黛西‧拉斯貢 (Stacy Rasgon)。

For the first one, I also wanted to sort of revisit the second half ramp. So it does seem clear if the full year is flat, plus or minus, you're up decent double digits half over half. Does that start in Q3? Like is Q3 above seasonal to get us there? Like how would you -- I guess, sitting where we are right now, how would you sort of characterize likely Q3 seasonality versus what you've seen historically?

第一個，我還想重新審視下半段坡道。因此，如果全年持平，無論是正數還是負數，看起來確實很清楚，你的漲幅是不錯的兩位數。從第三季開始嗎？就像第三季以上的季節性因素可以讓我們到達那裡嗎？就像你——我猜，坐在我們現在所處的位置，你會如何描述第三季度可能的季節性與你歷史上看到的情況相比？

Stacy, we really can't go there. I mean I'm already leaning out of the window here with giving kind of a directional full year guidance, which we thought is useful given the dramatic cycle we are all going through. But now calling it into Q3 and Q4 separately, I'm sorry, we don't provide that. So it is for the full year. And honestly, it's also hard to say, Stacy, because you know that inventory digestion is not an actual sheet. I mean this is a number of customers. Each of them has their own dynamic, has moving targets. So things could be settled earlier could be set a little later and calling that exact by the quarter end is virtually impossible.

史黛西，我們真的不能去那裡。我的意思是，我已經將目光探出窗外，給出了全年的方向性指導，考慮到我們正在經歷的戲劇性週期，我們認為這是有用的。但現在分別稱之為Q3和Q4，抱歉，我們不提供。全年都是如此。老實說，史黛西，這也很難說，因為你知道庫存消化並不是一張實際的表格。我的意思是這是很多客戶。他們每個人都有自己的動力，都有移動的目標。因此，事情可以早點解決，也可以晚一點解決，在季度末之前確定這一點幾乎是不可能的。

Okay. So I mean -- so maybe to take that point and maybe step out a little more. So on Autos, last year, you've already sort of indicated that you undershipped last year, you had strong pricing and you didn't -- you actually underperformed the market last year. So if you actually started under shipping last year, why are you still in an inventory correction now? Like so this is like 6 quarters.

好的。所以我的意思是——所以也許可以採取這一點，也許可以多走一步。所以在汽車方面，去年你已經表示去年的出貨量不足，你的定價很強勁，但你沒有——實際上你去年的表現遜於市場。那麼，如果您去年確實開始出貨，為什麼現在仍在庫存調整中？就像這樣，這就像 6 個季度。

Because we wanted to spread this out, Stacy, that was the whole idea. I think last quarter, we discussed about our understanding of that so-called soft landing strategy for NXP. Our whole target was to actually have not a sharp peak to trough in Automotive because there would be a bad impact on our factories and Bill would come back with heavy underloading and negative margin impact. So the idea was to spread this over a longer period of time, which is why we started early but didn't want to overdo it in any given quarter. So say we started in Q3 last year for the direct side of Automotive. And obviously, it goes at least until the end of the second quarter of this year. So that would be a full year of correction on the direct side, maybe a little bit spreading into the third quarter.

因為我們想傳播這個，史黛西，這就是整個想法。我想上個季度，我們討論了我們對恩智浦所謂的軟著陸戰略的理解。我們的整個目標實際上是汽車行業不會出現急劇的波峰和波谷，因為這會對我們的工廠產生不良影響，而比爾回來時會帶來嚴重的負載不足和負面的利潤影響。因此，我們的想法是將其分散到更長的一段時間內，這就是為什麼我們很早就開始，但不想在任何特定季度做得過度。可以說，我們去年第三季就開始了汽車直接方面的工作。顯然，這種情況至少會持續到今年第二季末。因此，這將是一整年的直接修正，可能會稍微蔓延到第三季。

Mind you that at the same time, our distribution Automotive business, which is 40% of the total Automotive revenue has always been at [1.6] only. So on that side of the house, we haven't had to correct at all. So that's the way how you should think about it, which explains also some of the confusion I'm reading in a lot of reports about the peak to trough behavior of NXP versus others. In Pumps Infra, in Industrial and Mobile, we have a 30% peak to trough more or less. It's just that our trough was already a year ago because of our channel discipline. But it's the same peak to trough as everybody else. It's just in Automotive, it's probably more in the 9% to 10% and because I believe we troughed in Automotive this quarter 2 right now.

請注意，同時，我們的汽車經銷業務佔汽車總收入的 40%，但一直只有 [1.6]。所以在房子的那一邊，我們根本不需要糾正。所以這就是你應該如何思考的方式，這也解釋了我在許多關於恩智浦與其他公司的峰谷行為的報告中讀到的一些困惑。在泵浦基礎設施、工業和移動領域，我們或多或少有 30% 的峰谷差。只是由於我們的渠道紀律，我們的低谷已經在一年前了。但與其他人一樣，從高峰到低谷也是如此。僅在汽車領域，可能更多的是 9% 到 10%，因為我相信我們在第二季的汽車領域已經陷入低谷。

But again, that is intentional, as I just explained.

但正如我剛才所解釋的，這是故意的。

Got it. So is it demand getting worse now? Or is it just your inventory behavior taking a harder line on inventories because it does feel like the general trajectory is getting worse over the last quarter and Q4, Q1, Q2.

知道了。那現在需求是不是越來越差了呢？或者只是您的庫存行為對庫存採取了更強硬的態度，因為確實感覺上個季度以及第四季度、第一季、第二季的整體軌跡變得更糟。

No, it's really the inventory. We don't see -- I mean, you have to take the offset from the SAAR, Stacy. I said earlier that last year, of course, there was a SAAR growth of 10%, this year, it is flat. That is a -- if you compare like-for-like, then that makes this year, of course, a less positive environment from a macro perspective. But everything else, which is the company specific positions we have, which is the content increase, which is offered by the industry per se, and the pricing, which is also flat for us this year is totally in place. So no, it's just inventory.

不，這確實是庫存。我們沒有看到——我的意思是，你必須從 SAAR 中獲得補償，史黛西。我之前說過，去年當然有10%的SAAR成長，今年則持平。如果你進行同類比較，那麼從宏觀角度來看，今年的環境當然不太樂觀。但其他一切，即我們公司的具體定位、內容的增加（由行業本身提供）以及定價（今年對我們來說也是持平的）都已完全到位。所以不，這只是庫存。

Our next question comes from the line of Joshua Buchalter with TD Cowen.

我們的下一個問題來自 Joshua Buchalter 和 TD Cowen 的對話。

Congrats on results. For my first one, I think there's a perception out there that there's a line draw to draw between software-defined vehicles and EVs and then it's much more difficult to do in SPV architecture on an ICE engine. Maybe you could spend a minute or 2 talking about what you're seeing from your customers? I mean, is there a big correlation between that digital architecture change versus electric vehicles because they're rearchitecting and what are you seeing on ICE engines for a software-defined vehicle?

祝賀結果。對於我的第一個想法，我認為人們有一種看法，即軟體定義的車輛和電動車之間存在一條界限，而在 ICE 引擎上的 SPV 架構中要做到這一點要困難得多。也許您可以花一兩分鐘來談論您從客戶那裡看到的情況？我的意思是，數位架構的變化與電動車之間是否存在很大的相關性，因為它們正在重新架構，以及您在軟體定義車輛的 ICE 引擎上看到了什麼？

Yes. I would say no. Fundamentally, the concept of a software-defined vehicle, which is actually moving a lot of performance parameters from hardware to software and creating much more flexibility is completely independent of what kind of powertrain it has. Now the matter of the fact is, however, that all OEMs, I know, are extremely busy with developing electric powertrain-based new vehicles. And for most of them, it is actually the core of their activity going forward.

是的。我會說不。從根本上說，軟體定義車輛的概念實際上是將許多性能參數從硬體轉移到軟體並創造更多的靈活性，完全獨立於它擁有什麼樣的動力系統。然而，現在的事實是，據我所知，所有原始設備製造商都非常忙於開發基於電動動力總成的新車。對他們中的大多數人來說，這實際上是他們未來活動的核心。

And that is, of course, the reason why when they think then about STB implementations, it falls together with electric drivetrains, but that is not because there would be a technical reason. I actually know that several STB implementations where we are a leading partner for OEMs, this comprehend both ICE and electric drivetrains.

當然，這就是為什麼當他們考慮機上盒實施時，它與電動傳動系統結合在一起的原因，但這並不是因為存在技術原因。事實上，我知道我們是 OEM 的領先合作夥伴，在一些 STB 實施中，它涵蓋了 ICE 和電動傳動系統。

So it is the same STB content which splits then on a much lower level into an implementation for a combustion engine car or in an implementation for a battery electric vehicle car. But fundamentally, there is no difference.

因此，相同的 STB 內容在更低的等級上分為內燃機汽車的實現或電池電動車的實現。但從根本上來說，沒有什麼差別。

Appreciate the color there. And maybe for Bill. As you just paid down the $1 million note in March, I think you don't have anything to do for over a year now and only $500 million next year. In the passing of NXP has been more aggressive utilizing the balance sheet. And I think your past target was 2x levered. Can you maybe talk about how you're thinking about utilizing the balance sheet and the capital returns here?

欣賞那裡的顏色。也許對比爾來說。由於你在三月剛剛還清了100萬美元的票據，我想你現在一年多沒有任何事情可做，明年也只有5億美元。在此之後，恩智浦更加積極地利用資產負債表。我認為你過去的目標是 2 倍槓桿。您能否談談您如何考慮利用資產負債表和資本回報？

Yes, sure. So again, Josh, no change to our capital allocation strategy. If I just look back over the last 3 years, we returned $8.4 billion or 107% of our free cash flow last trailing 12 months, it's below 100% because we retire that debt that you just mentioned. And so that's about 82%. And in the past quarter, we did 90%. So I think we did take the opportunity to deleverage the company. We looked at our gross leverage metric, and it was at 2.1x, now that 1.9. Clearly, with the credit rating agencies and [sweet stocks] below 1.5. If we look at -- we're going to continue actively buying back our shares. We think it's a great use of our cash. We have approximately $1.1 billion left on a board authorization plan of buybacks this year.

是的，當然。喬什，再說一遍，我們的資本配置策略沒有改變。如果我回顧過去 3 年，我們返還了 84 億美元，即過去 12 個月自由現金流的 107%，它低於 100%，因為我們償還了您剛才提到的債務。所以大約是 82%。在上個季度，我們做到了 90%。所以我認為我們確實抓住了公司去槓桿化的機會。我們查看了總槓桿率指標，之前為 2.1 倍，現在為 1.9 倍。顯然，信用評等機構和[甜蜜股票]低於 1.5。如果我們看看——我們將繼續積極回購我們的股票。我們認為這是對我們現金的充分利用。今年董事會授權的回購計畫還剩約 11 億美元。

We continue to pay a healthy level of dividend. So if you look at that as a percentage of cash flow from operations over the last 12 months is about 28%. And as we talked about in the past that we treated someone as fixed, we'll continue to execute and invest in the business. That's the #1 priority, right? We're going to stay within our financial model, invest in the business, continue a lot of small tuck-ins of our M&A that we've been actively involved in. So overall, I think we're committed to continue returning excess free cash flow back to you all.

我們繼續支付健康水準的股利。因此，如果你看看過去 12 個月營運現金流的百分比約為 28%。正如我們過去談到的，我們將某人視為固定的，我們將繼續執行和投資業務。這是第一要務，對嗎？我們將保持我們的財務模式，投資於業務，繼續對我們一直積極參與的併購進行大量小額投資。你們所有人身上。

Towanda, we'll take one more question here today.

Towanda，今天我們還要回答一個問題。

Our final question comes from the line of Chris Caso with Wolfe Research.

我們的最後一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Chris Caso。

I wonder if you could talk a little bit more about the China for China manufacturing strategy that you've spoken to in the past. I mean I guess in one point, how that protects the business in China? And then secondly, what margin implication that may have if you change that manufacturing strategy going forward?

我想知道您是否可以多談談您過去談到的「中國製造中國製造」策略。我的意思是，我想在某一點上，這如何保護中國的業務？其次，如果您改變未來的製造策略，可能會對利潤產生什麼影響？

Yes. Chris, that's indeed a very -- that's a very important point. There is a clear ongoing and I'd say, increasing requirements from our Chinese customers in Automotive and beyond to go for localized manufacturing. We are pursuing this quite forcefully. We have chosen the Nanjing factory of TSMC, which happens to host the 16 FinFET, 16-nanometer technology, which is the core of our microprocessors for Automotive. We are working with SMIC, which we have done historically outside of Automotive and continue to do so outside of Automotive. And we just ended up choosing a third foundry partner, which I'm not going to name here, but a third foundry partner for the analog mixed signal space in order to produce our products in China for China.

是的。克里斯，這確實是非常非常重要的一點。我想說，中國汽車及其他領域的客戶對本地化製造的要求正在增加。我們正在大力追求這個目標。我們選擇了台積電的南京工廠，該工廠恰好採用16 FinFET、16奈米技術，這是我們汽車微處理器的核心。我們正在與中芯國際合作，我們過去曾在汽車領域以外的領域進行合作，並將繼續在汽車領域之外這樣做。我們最終選擇了第三家代工合作夥伴（我不會在這裡提及其名稱），而是模擬混合訊號領域的第三家代工合作夥伴，以便在中國為中國生產我們的產品。

That is helpful in 2 ways, Chris. The one is indeed that we can follow that requirement of local manufacturing. And I believe NXP is in a comparably good position here because several of our peers have their own factories. And for them, that move to China is really not easy. Secondly, cost. You just mentioned it, there is certainly a competitive market in China. And if we want to successfully play against local Chinese competitors, which certainly over time will continue to try and come up, it is good when we can use the same cost base, which they use, which is local foundries in China. So in an ideal case, Chris, and again, let's see how it plays out. You will not see any impact on the margin from doing this. but it keeps us competitive. I mean the whole point is that we can play against them successfully because we can leverage the same cost competitiveness, which they have in the local manufacturing environment. I look at Jeff here. Do you have a follow-up?

這有兩方面的幫助，克里斯。一是我們確實可以遵循本地製造的要求。我相信恩智浦在這方面處於相對有利的地位，因為我們的幾個同行都有自己的工廠。對他們來說，搬到中國確實不容易。其次，成本。你剛才也提到了，中國一定是有競爭市場的。如果我們想成功地與中國本土競爭對手競爭（隨著時間的推移，這些競爭對手肯定會繼續嘗試並出現），那麼當我們能夠使用與他們相同的成本基礎時，這是很好的，那就是中國本土的代工廠。所以，克里斯，在理想的情況下，讓我們再次看看結果如何。這樣做不會對利潤產生任何影響。但這讓我們保持競爭力。我的意思是，重點是我們可以成功地與他們競爭，因為我們可以利用他們在當地製造環境中擁有的相同的成本競爭力。我看著傑夫。你有後續行動嗎？

Yes, I do. And if I could follow up also with China from a competitive standpoint regarding what they could actually produce. And you've addressed it from a manufacturing standpoint and putting you on an equal cost base with them. What do you think about the capabilities of some of these local players? Obviously, there's an imperative in time to try to bring as much content locally as possible. Do you see the competitive threat rising in terms of the capabilities of some of the local players that could be a factor going forward?

是的，我願意。如果我也能從競爭的角度跟進中國的實際生產情況。您已經從製造的角度解決了這個問題，並使您與他們處於同等的成本基礎上。您如何看待這些本地玩家的能力？顯然，我們迫切需要及時嘗試將盡可能多的內容引入本地。您是否認為一些本地企業的能力所面臨的競爭威脅正在上升，這可能是未來發展的因素？

Look, Chris, in principle, and that's an overriding statement, we are always paranoid about competition because I've learned in my career in this industry, you better be paranoid at all times because it keeps you hot to run successfully against competition. actually, in that particular case, we see 2 areas where China is very, very busy from a local competition perspective. One is power discretes, especially for Automotive and that ranges all the way from IGBTs MOSFETs to silicon carbide. We just observed that for us, it doesn't matter since you know that this is not part of our portfolio. But that's something where it appears they actually make quite good progress.

聽著，克里斯，原則上，這是一個壓倒一切的聲明，我們總是對競爭感到偏執，因為我在這個行業的職業生涯中了解到，你最好始終保持偏執，因為它會讓你保持熱情，成功地對抗競爭。實際上，在這種特殊情況下，從當地競爭的角度來看，我們看到中國在兩個領域非常非常繁忙。一是功率分立元件，特別是汽車領域，從 IGBT、MOSFET 到碳化矽。我們只是觀察到，對我們來說，這並不重要，因為你知道這不是我們投資組合的一部分。但這似乎是他們實際上取得了相當大的進展。

Secondly, lower end microcontrollers. There is a number of companies and they together have a couple of hundred million of dollar business already. That's outside of Automotive. We think with the fast move and requirements for higher processing performance and a lot more software in Automotive. This is a long way for them. Again, we are paranoid, but I think it's just another set of competitors, which we are facing like in other places in the world. So we are not fearful of this anytime soon. In the analog space, I could imagine, again, we haven't really seen much, but I could also imagine that they get into the lower end catalog analog at some point. I mean if I was China, I would try and do this.

其次，低階微控制器。有很多公司，他們的業務加起來已經達到了數億美元。那是在汽車領域之外的。我們認為汽車產業的快速發展和對更高處理性能和更多軟體的要求。這對他們來說是一條很長的路。再說一次，我們很偏執，但我認為這只是另一組競爭對手，我們就像在世界其他地方一樣面對這些競爭對手。因此，我們不會很快擔心這一點。在模擬領域，我可以想像，我們還沒有真正看到太多，但我也可以想像他們在某個時候進入低端目錄模擬。我的意思是，如果我是中國，我會嘗試這樣做。

So overall, clearly a trend, so I completely agree with you that this is something which they want to do. We don't see it really moving in our space at this time. And certainly, with the localization of our manufacturing, we kind of want to counter that, at least from a competitive cost base and from a compliance perspective.

總的來說，這顯然是一種趨勢，所以我完全同意你的觀點，這是他們想做的事情。目前我們還沒有看到它在我們的空間中真正移動。當然，隨著我們製造的在地化，我們希望至少從有競爭力的成本基礎和合規角度來應對這個問題。

Good. With that, we are a little bit over time. I want to conclude the call with summarizing and just making the remark again.

好的。這樣一來，我們就有點超時了。我想透過總結來結束這通通話，並再次發表演說。

This is a tough cycle. We have, over many quarters, operated a soft landing strategy in order to keep the P&L earnings and profitability in reasonable shape. With some cautious optimism, we are seeing now that the second half is turning around. It's hard to say what the slope of that is going to be. But given our low inventory position going into this, we are cautiously optimistic that we can land the year in this plus/minus 0 kind of fashion which we discussed during the call. In the meantime, we keep every possible control on anything we can do about gross margin and OpEx as well as CapEx.

這是一個艱難的循環。我們在多個季度都採取了軟著陸策略，以保持損益表收益和盈利能力處於合理的狀態。帶著謹慎樂觀的態度，我們現在看到下半年正在好轉。很難說其斜率會是多少。但考慮到我們的庫存狀況較低，我們對今年能夠以正負 0 的方式實現持謹慎樂觀的態度，正如我們在電話會議中討論的那樣。同時，我們對毛利率、營運支出以及資本支出採取一切可能的控制。

With that, I would like to conclude the call and thank all of you.

至此，我想結束這通通話並向大家表示感謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect.

女士們、先生們，今天的電話會議到此結束。感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開連線。