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。 （操作員指示）現在，我想將電話轉給投資者關係高級副總裁傑夫帕爾默。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.

謝謝你，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半導體總裁兼執行長 Kurt Sievers；以及我們的財務長 Bill Betz。今天的電話會議正在錄音，可從我們的公司網站重播。

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，其中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。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，我們將參考某些非 GAAP 財務指標，這些指標主要由管理階層認為與 NXP 核心營運績效無直接關係的離散事件所驅動。根據 G 規則，恩智浦已在我們的 2024 年第一季收益新聞稿中提供了非 GAAP 財務指標與最直接可比較的 GAAP 指標的對帳表，該對帳表將以 8-K 表格的形式提供給美國證券交易委員會 (SEC)，並在 SP 網站的「投資者關係」部分提供。

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。感謝您參加今天早上的電話會議。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的預期中位數一致。恩智浦第一季營收為31.3億美元，與去年同期基本持平。第一季非公認會計準則營業利潤率為 34.5%，比去年同期低 30 個基點，比我們的預期中位數高出 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.

與去年同期相比，業績表現得益於持續的毛利創造，但由於我們繼續對未來業務進行投資，因此營運費用略有增加。從通路角度來看，我們將分銷庫存保持在 1.6 個月的緊張水平，與我們的指導一致，遠低於我們 2.5 個月的庫存 EBITDA 的長期目標。現在讓我來談談我們關注的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.

汽車業務的營收為 18 億美元，較去年同期下降 1%，符合我們的預期。我們繼續與主要的直接汽車一級客戶有序地消化庫存。工業和物聯網業務的營收為 5.74 億美元，較去年同期成長 14%，符合我們的預期。與去年業務下滑的時候相比，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定改善，因此尚未回到我們預期的長期水準。行動業務的收入為 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，通訊基礎設施及其他業務的收入為 3.99 億美元，年減 25%，符合我們的預期。現在，讓我來談談我們對 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直接一級汽車客戶持續的庫存消化過程，以及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，也部分原因在於終端需求逐漸健康。預計這一增長將被歐洲和美洲的終端需求疲軟所部分抵消。

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得益於安全的 RFID 標籤。綜合來看，我們預期第二季我們的業務將呈現以下趨勢。預計汽車銷售額將比 2023 年第 2 季下降高個位數百分比範圍，比 2024 年第 1 季下降中個位數百分比範圍。預計工業和物聯網年增率和環比 24 年第一季均將達到高個位數百分比。預計行動業務年增率將在 20% 左右，與 2024 年第一季相比持平。

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，通訊基礎設施和其他領域預計將年減 20% 左右，較上季 24 年第一季將上漲 10% 左右。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稍微增加庫存，以支持我們預期的下半年成長的競爭力。因此，我們的指導假設第二季分銷通路庫存約為 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。綜合來看，2024 年的潛在結果應該在年度收入適度增長或下降的範圍內，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能控制的事情，使恩智浦在充滿挑戰的需求環境中實現穩健的獲利能力和收益。我們的第一季業績、第二季的預期以及對下半年的初步預測都表明，我們謹慎樂觀地認為，恩智浦正在成功度過整個產業的周期性衰退。

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個重要的創新公告。這包括我們針對下一代軟體定義汽車的S32核心右平台。它是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，旨在解決軟體定義汽車所需的複雜性、可擴展性和成本效益。作為該公告的一部分，我們還推出了 5 奈米 S32M 處理器，這是我們 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，為下一代汽車 ADAS 系統提供支援。這款新產品進一步擴大了我們在市場領先的特許經營權，並以極具成本效益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企業霍尼韋爾簽署了諒解備忘錄。此次合作旨在透過將恩智浦基於神經網路的工業級應用程式流程整合到霍尼韋爾的樓宇管理系統中，幫助它們更聰明地運作。該協議是恩智浦如何參與並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?

現在我想把電話交給你，比爾，來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.

謝謝你，庫爾特，今天電話會議中的各位嘉賓早安。正如 Kurt 已經介紹過第一季的收入驅動因素，並提供了第二季的收入展望。我將轉到重點部分。整體來看，第一季財務表現良好。收入與我們的指導範圍的中點一致，非 GAAP 毛利率略高於我們的指導範圍的中點，而分銷渠道的庫存仍然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.

談到第一季的業績。總收入為 31.3 億美元，與去年同期持平，符合我們預期範圍的中點。我們實現了 18.2 億美元的非公認會計準則毛利潤，報告非公認會計準則毛利率為 58.2%，與去年同期持平，但比我們指導範圍的中點高出 20 個基點。利潤率的增加是由於我們內部前端製造設備的預期使用壽命從 5 年增加到 10 年。這對結果來說大約有利 30 個基點，這不在我們的預期之內。非公認會計準則總營業費用為 7.36 億美元，佔營收的 23.5%，年增 800 萬美元，季減 5,500 萬美元。這比我們的指導範圍中點低 1900 萬美元，主要原因是可變薪酬減少和主動費用控制。

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，非公認會計準則營業利潤為10.8億美元，非公認會計準則營業利潤率為34.5%，年減30個基點，高出我們指引範圍中點60個基點。非公認會計準則利息支出為 6,400 萬美元，持續營業稅為 1.71 億美元，或非公認會計準則有效稅率為 16.8%。非控制權益為 500 萬美元，股票薪酬（未包含在非 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。由於我們償還了 2024 年 3 月 1 日到期的 4.875% 債券，我們第一季末的總債務為 101.8 億美元，減少了 9.97 億美元。 我們的期末現金餘額（包括短期存款）為 33.1 億美元，比上一季度減少 9.63 億美元，這是由於資本回報結果是，淨債務為 69 億美元，而本季結束時，我們過去 12 個月的調整後 EBITDA 為 54 億美元。我們第一季末的淨負債與過去 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 的比率為 1.3 倍，我們 12 個月調整後 EBITDA 利息覆蓋率為 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。第一季結束後，截至 4 月 26 日星期五，我們根據既定的 10b5-1 計劃額外回購了價值 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，約 7 週。正如我們在過去一年中一直強調的那樣，鑑於不確定的需求環境，我們繼續有意選擇限制渠道中的庫存，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定向產品。應收帳款天數為 26 天，較上一季增加 2 天，應付帳款天數為 65 天，比上一季減少 7 天。總的來說，我們的現金轉換週期為 105 天，比上一季增加了 21 天。經營活動現金流為 8.51 億美元，淨資本支出為 2.24 億美元，約佔收入的 7%，導致非 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.

現在來談談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%，環比持平。我們預計非 GAAP 毛利率約為 58.5%，上下浮動 50 個基點，其中包括與我們內部前端製造設備使用壽命估計變化相關的約 60 個基點。正如庫爾特在其準備好的發言中指出的那樣，我們將開始在通路中稍微增加庫存，以支持我們預期的下半年成長的競爭力。因此，我們的指導假設第二季分銷通路庫存約為 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.

預計營運費用約 7.65 億美元，上下浮動約 1,000 萬美元。連續的成長主要得益於我們的年度績效加薪以及作為法律和解的一部分向 Impinj 支付的 1500 萬美元許可費。綜合來看，我們認為非 GAAP 營業利潤率中間值為 34%。我們預計非公認會計準則財務支出為 6,300 萬美元，非公認會計準則稅率為稅前利潤的 16.8%。非控制權益和其他權益約為 500 萬美元。對於第二季度，出於建模目的，我們建議您使用平均股數 2.585 億股。我們預計股票薪酬為 1.15 億美元，這未包含在我們的非 GAAP 指引中。對於資本支出，我們預計在6%左右。按照中間值計算，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，展望 2024 年的剩餘時間，我想強調一下 NXP 的幾個重點領域。首先，從業績的角度來看，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的態度。其次，我們將繼續嚴格管理我們所能控制的事物，並維持我們的長期財務模式。具體而言，我們預計我們的毛利率將繼續保持或超過長期模型的高端，同時在今年剩餘時間內維持內部晶圓廠的利用率水準在 70% 以下。

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 個月我們已經返還了 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。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.

現在我想將問題轉回給接線生。

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

（操作員指示）我們的第一個問題來自美國銀行證券的 Vivek Arya。

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，我認為你對今年下半年汽車行業的謹慎樂觀情緒做出了非常清晰的解釋。我的問題更像是中長期問題。過去，您為汽車業務設定了 9% 到 14% 的成長目標。從那時起，很多事情都發生了變化，例如電動車成長放緩、通貨膨脹以及其他因素。如何正確看待恩智浦的長期汽車成長前景？什麼是——這是一個將生產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。因此，首先，讓我補充一下你所說的，我對下半年表達的謹慎樂觀不僅限於汽車產業。值得注意的是，整個公司實際上都對下半年的成長持謹慎樂觀的態度。它的基礎非常廣泛。它涉及分銷和直接銷售，也涉及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.

現在回到你最初的問題，汽車的長期成長。是的，我們的預期是從 21 年到 24 年成長 9% 到 14%。如今我們已經進入24世紀。 我們非常高興地看到，汽車行業可能是今年唯一一個能達到 9% 至 14% 增長目標的行業，而且正如比爾在準備好的發言結束時所說，我們將在 11 月舉辦投資者日，屆時我們將公佈包括汽車行業在內的所有行業未來 3 年的新增長目標。

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 - 所以今天我無法給你未來 3 年汽車行業的數字，但從方向上看，Vivek，我想說，演算法與歷史並沒有太大的不同，因為我們看到內容驅動因素已經非常到位。您知道，作為恩智浦半導體公司，我們從 ADAS 和電氣化趨勢中受益匪淺，而且主要是從中長期來看，從軟體定義汽車的趨勢來看，我們在處理領域行業領先的特許經營權肯定會獲勝。這種情況持續下去，這意味著最終 SAAR 作為潛在機制可能變得不那麼重要了。我還要告訴你，我們認為定價肯定會從我們的起點開始永續發展。您知道，在過去 3 年裡，恩智浦半導體 (NXP) 提高了價格。我們說過今年它將保持中性。正如我之前所說，在未來幾年，我們可能會回到每年非常小的、低個位數的 ASP 下降趨勢。

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疫情前的水平。我的意思是這對該演算法來說確實很重要。所以，Vivek，請耐心等待 11 月投資者日，我們會提供準確的數字。但我只是想向你們表明，你們不應該期待這裡會發生巨大的變化。

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，我想問一下關於你們汽車業務的一個更近期或者說是 24 日曆年的問題。那麼去年你們的汽車銷量成長了大約 9%，與汽車產量成長大致一致，對嗎？因此，儘管定價更優惠，但您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出現連續下降，因此對整個 24 年日曆的假設是什麼。那麼是否可以假設他們會重新振作起來並且比後備生產做得更好？您對於全年的汽車業務有何看法？

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。確實，你對去年的判斷是完全正確的。汽車收入實現 9% 的成長實際上是在 SAAR 成長非常強勁的一年。我認為去年的 SAAR 年比增長了近 10%，非常高。確實，從整個公司的角度來看，恩智浦確實將價格提高了 8%。是的，去年我們的出貨量確實已經完全不足了，這是我們正在推行的軟貸款策略的一部分。因此，我們認為，自去年年中以來，我們已經開始糾正汽車收入和直接客戶的庫存狀況，並且在分銷管道中，因為我們的數字超過了 1.6。現在當你思考今年的時候，維韋克，確實——宏觀有點不同。標準普爾的最新數據顯示，今年的年均複合成長率為 0%，電動車滲透率將略有放緩。

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.

維韋克，我說這話非常謹慎，因為我認為我們看到的有關電動車放緩的頭條新聞比實際情況更引人注目。標準普爾仍在談論 xEV 的單位成長率超過 20%，因此今年的混合動力車和純電動車仍然是一個非常強勁的成長勢頭。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，以及現在我們剛剛給出的第二季度指南中，我們正在與直接汽車一級客戶一起消化庫存。這是否能在第二季末準確完成，或者是否需要到第三季才能完成，很難說。然而，我們有跡象表明，今年下半年汽車市場的成長將高於上半年。這實際上是由公司特定的推動因素所推動的。因此，我們有 RADAR 平台，其在下半年將強勁發展。

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。維韋克，我不會告訴你全年的成長數字。我們不會根據各部門來預測全年業績。實際上，我們只指導下一季。但當我說整個公司全年的業績略有上漲或下跌，而汽車業務占公司總營收的 50% 以上時，你就可以猜到，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羅斯·西摩。

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，我想稍微談談你顯然感到的更加舒服的感覺，你希望開始重新填充頻道。我知道您在第一季度做了一些努力，但在第二季度，儘管汽車業務的業績下滑，但您的樂觀情緒似乎比上一季有所增強。我知道您已經詳細討論了每一個部分。但如果你退後一步，站在更高的層次，是什麼給了你信心？有哪些改進可以讓您有信心填補管道空缺？

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，Q1，老實說是 1.6，你是對的，我們是從 Q4 的 1.5 開始的。它一直徘徊在 1.5 和 1.6 左右。很難將其嚴格控制在一個數字上。所以我認為 Q1 並不是故意的。只是——如果你回顧過去，我不知道，12 個季度，我們一直在 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提升至 1.7。那麼是什麼給了我們如此樂觀的感覺呢？

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。我認為在 Vivek 的問題上，一分鐘前我提到，在汽車領域，我們有公司特定的平台，這些平台將在下半年加速發展，我們幾乎每天都會與客戶坐在一起討論該平台的組織方式。所以我們知道那將會發生。其次，比爾在他的準備好的發言中提到，我們與 Impinj 就 RFID 標籤業務達成了協議，而且，該市場領域的兩家市場領先的特許經營商或公司 NXP 和 Impinj 已在此落戶，我想說，這對 RFID 標籤市場的發展是一個積極的催化劑。

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，我們看到了積極的發展，這也將對我們上半年的通訊基礎設施和其他業務在下半年產生的影響。第三，這更多的是從週期性方面來看，我們清楚地看到汽車一級庫存將會正常化。因此，我們就把運輸費用恢復到正常水準。因此並沒有特別的事情發生。今天需求已經存在，但我們仍在消化庫存。在下半年，我們預計汽車產量不會增加，電動車產量也不會增加，等等。我們只是根據最終需求進行發貨。但對於工業和物聯網而言，情況更是如此，因為我們的旅行業務非常精簡，工業和物聯網業務主要在中國。大家可能還已經看到，中國的PMI其實發展得相當不錯。

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，我們確實看到，無論是在核心工業業務還是在消費者物聯網業務中，我們都看到了連續的改善，而這實際上是我們分階段佈局渠道的主要原因，因為我們絕對希望確保我們在進入第三季度和第四季度時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?

我想，既然你提到了 Impinj 方面，比爾，那麼你在 OpEx 方面做得很好。您在第一季的表現低於預期。您說包括第二季在內，支付了 1500 萬美元。您能否為我們介紹一下，第一，Impinj 的付款是一次性交易嗎，所以它在本季之後就消失了？然後更重要的是，您對 OpEx 方面有何看法？如果收入方面的樂觀情緒不斷增加，我們是否應該預期營運支出會隨著可變薪酬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。讓我將這兩者分開。因此，我們與 Impinj 達成的協議是年度交叉許可，這將對我們產生未來的影響，第二季度約為 1500 萬美元，並且略有上升，但一旦我們完成工作，這種情況可能會在未來的任何時候停止。再說一次，我不知道具體的時間，但這是我們內部正在追求的事情。與我們的營運支出相關，顯然，您可以看到我們在第二季度有些偏離模型，但這實際上是由我們的年度績效成長所推動的。因此，我們在第二季度同時遇到了這兩種影響，即 1500 萬美元加上年度績效加薪。但抵銷部分影響的也是我們積極主動的費用控制，您在第一季也看到了這一點，而且浮動薪酬有所降低。

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，當我們思考下半年時，我認為這就是你要去的地方，也是我們的 OpEx 的發展方向。我們要做的是確保我們回到那個模型，如你所知，當我們考慮下半年時，這個模型的成長率在 23% 左右。

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

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

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，你基本上是預期毛利率持平。而且我猜——我原本以為也許你會從頻道補充中獲得一點[工具包]，因為你再花一個月的時間。所以我想如果你能評論那裡可能存在的抵消情況的話。

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現狀的願景，我們應該如何看待下半年毛利率的走勢？

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。因此顯然，如果你進行會計調整，基本上，我們會保持平穩，而且這在我們的正負 50 個基點範圍內，對於 300 萬美元或 10 個基點，我真的不太擅長。但同樣，這其中存在著各種各樣的利弊，我認為使用壽命的原因部分在於會計變更。如您所知，每年我們都必須從會計角度來考慮這個問題，並且與這個特定主題相關，我們考慮了許多因素，其中包括恩智浦產品生命週期、工具年限和市場分析。這正是我們要做的事情，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，而且我們正在呼籲這一點，因此這一點非常明確。老實說，我們現在預計毛利率將達到或超過我們的長期模型，而我們之前的評論是接近或達到毛利率。我們擁有哪些槓桿，哪些順風，正如我們之前在電話會議中提到的，C.J. 顯然，我們的利用率低於 70%。因此，它最終將會回升並成為順風。我們討論的是，更高的收入是由於 30% 的固定成本造成的。再次，這應該有幫助。我們討論了補充分銷管道，這就是您提出的問題，就這一點而言，您應該會有所收穫。

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.

但您說得對，隨著時間的推移，當我們將其重新提升至目標時，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覆蓋範圍。這只不過需要時間。現在，在內部，團隊專注於提高生產力、降低成本，從更長遠的角度來看，我們已經解釋過很多次了，這實際上是我們業務之上的新產品推出。因此繼續移動。因此，我們將於 11 月 7 日舉辦分析師日或投資者日。但希望大家能夠看到，即使在經濟低迷時期，我們的利潤率管理仍然相當好，58% 或 58.5% 的會計調整利潤率並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。然後我要問庫爾特一個問題。當您回顧 COVID 時期和 NCNR 計劃的啟動時，聽起來這確實是您最高級別的工作，並且關注的是數量，而不是價格。我很好奇，正如您所期待的，這種幫助是如何培養您的客戶關係的？當我們進入一個 NCNR 不再是業務一部分的世界時，您認為未來可能帶來哪些好處？

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。這裡有幾點考慮，C.J。因此自 1 月 1 日起，任何 NCNR 計劃下都不再有任何內容。然而，我要非常堅定地說，我指出這一點是因為我知道一些業內同行對此有非常不同的看法。我們的計劃實施方式其實很好。我會再做一次。它確實有幫助，因為在我們的特定情況下，它確實讓我們更加緊密地聯繫在一起，並且我們很早就了解了庫存過剩的問題，因為下面有一個協議，這迫使客戶坐到談判桌上告訴我們，如果我們不共同努力糾正，事情就會變得太糟，這就是為什麼我們去年全年在汽車領域發貨不足的原因。我想我在去年第一季財報電話會議上就已經開始談論這個問題了，當時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——我們不會看到那件事。如果沒有 NCNR 我們就不會了解這一點。現在從更具策略性的角度來看，C.J.，我認為這完全取決於這個行業如何從供應危機中吸取教訓，以避免再次陷入陷阱，並嘗試將即時生產概念應用於製造週期為 3 到 4 個月的半導體產品。我想說我對此有複雜的感受，C.J。所以我想說，這是一個很好的學習成果，這顯然是超越 NCNR 的一步。

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來說，我們清楚地看到，現在面臨營運資金需求的壓力，他們在再次減少庫存時往往會變得非常策略性。從我的角度來看，太低了。因此，我認為，我們看到一些直接客戶的庫存目標（不是全部，但有一些）在考慮下一次上漲時開始構成風險。我所說的風險是，我們可能會再次陷入供應困境，因為反應時間太短，需要突然再次發貨，這會非常困難，而且供應鏈非常深，這使情況更加複雜。因此，我們不只是將產品運送給一個合作夥伴，然後再送到汽車公司，而是通常經過 2 個、3 個或 4 個階段，這樣都可以減少庫存。

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.

在某個時候，他們都想再次增加庫存。這就是推動循環的因素。因此我想說，在 OEM 方面，在 NCNR 之後的時代我們學到了很多東西，但不幸的是，對於直接客戶來說，情況則好壞參半。

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

我們的下一個問題來自花旗的 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，我猜，這只是一個關於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，這對恩智浦半導體（NXP）有何影響？或者說這無所謂？

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.

這些都是有趣的問題，克里斯，我們也認真思考過。讓我嘗試剖析一下。一個是 — — 我想我在之前的準備好的發言中說過，如果將混合動力汽車和電池電動汽車結合起來，xEV 將繼續保持良好的增長勢頭。但那是由中國實施的。而許多媒體頭條報道情況不佳的原因是歐洲和美國的 xEV 發展規模實際上相當小。具體來說，如果放眼全球的電動車總量，美國祇佔了12%，歐洲佔了24%，而中國佔了44%，而比亞迪確實佔了很大一部分。克里斯，根據標準普爾的統計，今年中國的銷量成長了 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 整體上肯定會繼續保持良好的成長。現在，如果您深入研究電動車與混合動力車（即全電動車與混合動力車）之間的區別，那麼我會說這並不是那麼困難。純電動車仍只佔15%，但成長率達25%。混合動力車佔 24%，但成長率為 17%。因此，一個國家的基數較小，但成長速度較快。另外一個基數較大，但成長稍慢。克里斯，我認為從長遠來看，更多的是從技術角度來看，電動車將贏得勝利。我認為這種混合事物是個中間時期。我確實相信，從長遠來看，一切都將向電動車傾斜。一旦電池和電子技術給出了嚴格的範圍。

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，混合的整個概念實際上不再有意義了。現在對恩智浦來說，這並不像對我們的一些同行那麼重要，因為我們的產品組合中只有極少數嚴格針對 BEV。它實際上只是高壓電池管理解決方案。其餘一切也都以混合方式進行。因此，這與那些擁有碳化矽的人來說非常不同，例如，碳化矽只能進入其中一個，而不會進入另一個。因此，克里斯，我不知道這在短期內究竟會如何發揮作用。但這與我們的收入也沒有太大關係。從長遠來看，我確信一切終將回歸電動車的軌道。特斯拉對抗比亞迪，我不想這麼說，克里斯。我只想說，中國的企業遠不止比亞迪，他們還有很強的競爭力和進取心。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。現在特斯拉如何利用這一點，或者在其中發揮作用，我不知道。但可以肯定的是，中國最終將佔據主導地位，而且，這也是比亞迪的優勢。

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。然後我簡單跟進一下比爾的狀況。比爾，你說過今年下半年你的利用率將保持穩定。什麼會成為推動它們更上一層樓的催化劑？這是否是某種庫存天數水平，還是更好的需求前景，或者兩者的結合？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。你可以想像，現在，當我們查看頻道中有什麼、我們手邊有什麼時，我們處於模型的高端。所以 — — 然後我們試著平衡這一點，為下半年的成長進行適當的調整。因此，季度與季度之間是平衡的，但我們希望確保我們繼續做正確的事情，並控制庫存。 144 天的部分庫存是由於第四季度收入下降造成的，因此收入成本可能會對這一下降產生約 14 天的影響。然後我們實際上將本季度的庫存金額減少了約 2 天或 3200 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.

因此，我們正在嘗試平衡所有這些、所有的活動部分。我預計，下半年我們將重點關注庫存，可能會稍微收緊一些，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證券的 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?

庫爾特，你的意思似乎是說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，但我認為大部分增量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的影響程度？

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，這不是我說的。我說的是第二季的預期是31.25億美元，所以你可以算出上半年的收入。然後我說全年的漲幅介於小幅下降和小幅上升之間。而且非常重要的是，我想強調的是，下半年相對於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——並且我們有來自訂單模式等方面的數據點，下半年的直接業務也將比上半年成長。我之前舉了兩個例子，我想是羅斯舉的。一個是汽車平台，它正在不斷增長，完全獨立於週期，並且庫存中沒有產品，因為它是一種新產品，剛剛到達客戶手中。

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.

而且它是 RFID 標籤，那裡的部分地區也有直接客戶——它與週期無關，但它是 NXP 與 Impinj 針對該市場達成和解之後，整個行業的緩解。非常重要的是，我還想說，加里，為了做到這一點，我們不太可能動用 2.5 個月的渠道庫存。所以我說的是，在第二季度，我們將其提高到 1.7。因此，這一位數字上升了。我們現在處於 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，那麼在第三季和第四季將會進一步小幅增加。我必須承認，我無法想像我們會達到 2.4 或 2.5 的情景。因此，全年的小幅上漲或下跌並不取決於通道長度為 2.5 個月。所以如果之前沒有說清楚的話我很抱歉，所以我很高興你問了，加里，但這不是事情的背景。

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。這只是對比爾的一個快速跟進。您很好地強調了內部前端設備的折舊期限從 5 年增加到 10 年。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.

沒有變化。我們目前的觀點是我們的資本支出將佔 6% 到 8%。再說一遍，這實際上是一種會計變更，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公司的 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?

對於第一個，我也想重新檢視第二個半坡道。因此，很明顯，如果全年持平，無論是正數還是負數，上半年都會有兩位數的成長。這是從第三季開始的嗎？就像上面的 Q3 一樣，這個季節可以帶我們到那裡嗎？例如，我想，就我們現在的情況而言，您會如何描述第三季的季節性與歷史上的情況相比？

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，我已經開始嘗試給出某種方向性的全年指導，我們認為，考慮到我們正在經歷的劇烈週期，這種指導是有用的。但現在將其分別稱為 Q3 和 Q4，很抱歉，我們不提供該服務。全年情況也是如此。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。我的意思是這是顧客的數量。他們每個人都有自己的動態，都有移動的目標。因此，事情可能會早點解決，也可能會晚點解決，但在季度末實現這一目標幾乎是不可能的。

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──也許可以接受這一點，然後再進一步。因此就汽車而言，去年您已經表明了去年您的出貨量不足，您的定價很高，但實際上您去年的表現低於市場。那麼，如果您去年實際上已經開始運輸，為什麼現在仍處於庫存調整中？就像這樣，這就像是 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對恩智浦所謂的軟著陸戰略的理解。我們的整體目標實際上是避免汽車業務出現急劇的高峰和低谷，因為這會對我們的工廠產生不良影響，並且會導致嚴重的負荷不足和負面的利潤影響。因此，我們的想法是將其延伸到更長的時間段，這就是為什麼我們很早就開始了，但又不想在任何一個季度做得過火。所以我們去年第三季就開始涉足汽車的直接業務。顯然，這種情況至少會持續到今年第二季末。因此，從直接方面來看，這將是整整一年的調整，也許會延續到第三季。

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.

需要注意的是，我們的汽車經銷業務（佔汽車總收入的 40%）一直僅為 [1.6]。因此，在房子的這一側，我們根本不需要進行任何修正。所以你應該這樣思考，這也解釋了我在許多報告中讀到的關於恩智浦與其他公司的峰谷行為的比較所產生的一些困惑。在基礎設施泵浦、工業泵浦和移動泵浦領域，我們的峰谷變化率約為 30%。只是，由於我們的渠道紀律，我們的低潮早在一年前就已經出現了。但和其他人一樣，它也經歷著同樣的高峰和低谷。僅在汽車領域，其成長率可能在 9% 到 10% 之間，因為我相信我們目前在第二季觸及了汽車產業的低谷。

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

但正如我剛才解釋的那樣，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。那麼現在需求是否變得更糟了？或者只是您的庫存行為對庫存採取了更嚴厲的措施，因為確實感覺上個季度、第四季、第一季、第二季的整體趨勢正在變得更糟。

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，這實際上是庫存。我們看不到 - 我的意思是，你必須從 SAAR 中取出偏移量，史黛西。我之前說過，去年 SAAR 的成長當然是 10%，而今年則持平。如果進行同類比較，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，即我們所擁有的公司特定職位、行業本身提供的內容增加以及今年對我們來說也是持平的定價，都是完全到位的。所以不是，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 TD Cowen 的 Joshua Buchalter。

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?

恭喜取得成果。對於我的第一個問題，我認為人們有一種看法，即軟體定義的汽車和電動車之間存在一條界線，而在 ICE 引擎上的 SPV 架構中，這要困難得多。也許您可以花一兩分鐘談談您從客戶那裡看到了什麼？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關聯，因為它們正在重新架構，而您在軟體定義汽車的 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。我認為不是。從根本上來說，軟體定義汽車的概念實際上是將許多性能參數從硬體轉移到軟體，從而創造出更大的靈活性，完全獨立於汽車所擁有的動力系統類型。然而，事實是，我知道所有的原始設備製造商都在忙於開發基於電動動力系統的新車輛。對大多數人來說，這其實是他們今後活動的核心。

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 STB 實施時，它會與電動傳動系統結合在一起，但這並不是因為有技術原因而存在。事實上，我知道在多個 STB 實施中我們是 OEM 的主要合作夥伴，這包括 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 內容在更低的層次上被分為內燃機汽車的實現或電動車的實現。但從本質上來說，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?

欣賞那裡的色彩。或許對比爾來說也是如此。由於您剛剛在 3 月償還了 100 萬美元的債務，我認為您現在一年多的時間都沒有什麼事情可做，而明年您只需要 5 億美元。恩智浦一直以來都更積極地利用資產負債表。我認為您過去的目標是2倍槓桿。您能否談談您考慮如何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。所以，喬希，我們的資本配置策略沒有改變。如果我回顧過去 3 年，我們在過去 12 個月中返還了 84 億美元，即自由現金流的 107%，現在低於 100% 是因為我們償還了您剛才提到的債務。所以這個比例大約是 82%。在過去的一個季度，我們完成了 90%。所以我認為我們確實藉此機會降低了公司的槓桿率。我們查看了我們的總槓桿指標，以前是 2.1 倍，現在是 1.9 倍。顯然，信用評等機構和[甜蜜股]低於1.5。如果我們看一下——我們將繼續積極回購我們的股票。我們認為這是現金的極佳用途。我們今年的董事會授權回購計畫還剩下約 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，如果您將其視為過去 12 個月經營活動現金流的百分比，則約為 28%。正如我們過去所說的那樣，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，對吧？我們將繼續保持我們的財務模式，對業務進行投資，繼續進行我們積極參與的大量小規模併購。 所以總的來說，我認為我們致力於繼續將多餘的自由現金流返還給你們。

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

托旺達，今天我們再回答一個問題。

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再多談談您過去談到的「中國為中國製造」策略。我的意思是，我猜從某種意義上來說，這如何保護在中國的業務？其次，如果您將來改變製造策略，這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，這確實是一個非常非常重要的觀點。我想說，我們的中國汽車及其他領域的客戶對本地化製造的要求顯然持續且日益提高。我們正在大力推進這個目標。我們選擇了台積電的南京工廠，該工廠恰好擁有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之外進行過此類合作，並且我們將繼續在汽車領域之外繼續進行此類合作。我們最終選擇了第三家代工合作夥伴，在這裡我不會透露名字，但它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?

克里斯，這在兩個方面都有幫助。一是，我們確實可以遵循本地製造的要求。我相信恩智浦在這裡處於相對有利的地位，因為我們的幾家同行都有自己的工廠。對他們來說，移居中國確實並不容易。其次，成本。您剛才提到了，中國市場確實存在競爭。如果我們想要成功與中國本土競爭對手競爭，隨著時間的推移，他們肯定會不斷嘗試和崛起，那麼如果我們能夠使用與他們相同的成本基礎，即中國本土的代工廠，那就更好了。因此，在理想情況下，克里斯，我們再看看結果如何。你不會看到這樣做對利潤有任何影響。但它使我們保持競爭力。我的意思是，我們之所以能夠成功地與他們競爭，是因為我們可以利用他們在本地製造環境中所擁有的相同的成本競爭力。我在這裡看著傑夫。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。如果我可以從競爭的角度跟進中國實際生產的情況。而且您已經從製造的角度解決了這個問題，並使他們處於相同的成本基礎上。您如何看待這些本地球員的能力？顯然，現在當務之急是嘗試將盡可能多的內容轉移到本地。您是否認為，一些本地企業的能力日益增強，從而可能成為未來的因素？

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說法，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學到，你最好時刻保持偏執，因為它會讓你保持熱度，以便在與競爭對手的競爭中取得成功。實際上，在這種特殊情況下，從本地競爭的角度來看，我們看到中國在兩個領域非常繁忙。一類是功率分立元件，特別是用於汽車的功率分立元件，其範圍從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。但看起來他們確實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。有多家公司參與，它們的業務總額加起來已有數億美元。這與汽車無關。我們認為，隨著汽車行業的快速發展和對更高處理性能和更多軟體的要求。對他們來說，這是一段漫長的路程。再說一次，我們很偏執，但我認為這只是另一組競爭對手，就像我們在世界其他地方一樣。因此我們近期並不擔心這種情況。在模擬領域，我可以想像，我們還沒有真正看到太多，但我也可以想像它們在某個時候會進入低端目錄模擬。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.

所以總的來說，這顯然是一種趨勢，所以我完全同意你的看法，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裡真正移動。當然，隨著我們製造業務的在地化，我們至少從競爭成本基礎和合規角度來看，希望能解決這個問題。

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，我們就稍微超時了。我想在通話結束時作一個總結，並再次發表上述言論。

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。我們在多個季度中實施了軟著陸策略，以保持損益收入和獲利能力處於合理狀態。帶著謹慎樂觀的態度，我們現在看到下半年情況正在好轉。很難說出其斜率是多少。但考慮到我們的庫存水平較低，我們謹慎樂觀地認為，我們能夠以電話會議中討論的正負 0 的方式結束今年的業績。同時，我們盡可能控制毛利率、營運支出和資本支出。

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

我想就此結束本次通話並感謝大家。

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。