希捷科技 (STX) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to the Seagate Technology Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2022 Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) Also note, today's event is being recorded.

大家下午好，歡迎參加希捷科技2022財年第四季及全年電話會議。 （操作員指示）另請注意，今天的會議正在錄製中。

And at this time, I'd like to turn the conference call over to Shanye Hudson, Senior Vice President, Investor Relations and Treasury. Ma'am, please go ahead.

現在，我想把電話會議交給投資者關係和財務部高級副總裁 Shanye Hudson。女士，請開始。

Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone, and welcome to today's call.

謝謝大家。大家下午好，歡迎參加今天的電話會議。

Joining me are Dave Mosley, Seagate's Chief Executive Officer; and Gianluca Romano, our Chief Financial Officer. We've posted our earnings press release and detailed supplemental information for our June quarter and fiscal year 2022 results on the Investors section of our website.

和我一起出席的還有希捷執行長 Dave Mosley 和財務長詹盧卡羅馬諾 (Gianluca Romano)。我們已在網站的「投資者」板塊發布了 2022 財年第二季和第三季業績的獲利新聞稿和詳細補充資訊。

During today's call, we will refer to GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures. Non-GAAP figures are reconciled to GAAP figures in the earnings press release posted on our website and included on our Form 8-K that was filed with the SEC. We've not reconciled certain non-GAAP outlook measures because the material items that may impact these measures are out of our control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted. Therefore, a reconciliation to the corresponding GAAP measures is not available without unreasonable efforts.

在今天的電話會議上，我們將參考 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務指標。非 GAAP 數據已與我們網站上發布的收益新聞稿中的 GAAP 數據進行了調節，並包含在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 的 8-K 表格中。我們尚未調整某些非 GAAP 展望指標，因為可能影響這些指標的重大事項超出了我們的控制範圍和/或無法合理預測。因此，如果不付出不合理的努力，我們將無法獲得與相應 GAAP 指標的調整結果。

Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that today's call contains forward-looking statements that reflect management's current views and assumptions based on information available to us as of today, and should not be relied upon as of any subsequent date.

在我們開始之前，我想提醒您，今天的電話會議包含前瞻性陳述，這些陳述反映了管理層根據截至今天我們掌握的資訊所形成的當前觀點和假設，不應在任何後續日期依賴這些陳述。

Actual results may differ materially from those contained in our -- in or implied by these forward-looking statements as they're subject to risks and uncertainties associated with our business. To learn more about the risks, uncertainties and other factors that may affect our future business results please refer to the press release issued today and our SEC filings, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q as well as the supplemental information, all of which may be found on the Investors section of our website.

由於實際結果受我們業務相關的風險和不確定性影響，實際結果可能與這些前瞻性陳述中所述或暗示的結果有重大差異。如需了解更多可能影響我們未來業務業績的風險、不確定性和其他因素，請參閱今天發布的新聞稿以及我們向美國證券交易委員會 (SEC) 提交的文件，包括我們最新的 10-K 表年度報告和 10-Q 表季度報告以及補充信息，所有這些文件均可在我們網站的“投資者”部分找到。

As always, following our prepared remarks, we'll open the call for questions. Now I'll hand the call over to Dave for opening remarks.

像往常一樣，在準備好發言稿之後，我們將開始提問環節。現在，我將把演講時間交給戴夫，請他致開場白。

Thank you, Shanye, and welcome to those of you joining us on today's call.

謝謝你，Shanye，歡迎各位參加今天的電話會議。

Our June quarter financial results reflected near-record data center demand contrasted with impacts from a confluence of macro headwinds in other end markets, particularly in the consumer-facing legacy markets. We believe the secular data trends driving long-term demand growth for mass capacity storage and infrastructure remain intact, as I will discuss a bit later.

我們六月季度的財務表現反映出資料中心需求接近歷史最高水平，這與其他終端市場（尤其是面向消費者的傳統市場）受到的宏觀不利因素的影響形成了鮮明對比。我們認為，推動大容量儲存和基礎設施長期需求成長的長期數據趨勢依然穩固，我稍後將對此進行討論。

However, the impacts from COVID lockdowns in Asia, non-HDD component shortages and global inflationary pressures intensified late in the quarter. Our resulting June quarter revenue and non-GAAP EPS declined quarter-on-quarter to $2.63 billion and $1.59, respectively. While macro events are weighing on our near-term performance, Seagate's financial achievements for fiscal 2022 were noteworthy.

然而，亞洲新冠疫情封鎖、非硬碟組件短缺以及全球通膨壓力的影響在本季末加劇。因此，我們6月當季營收和非公認會計準則每股收益分別較上季下降至26.3億美元和1.59美元。儘管宏觀事件正在拖累我們的短期業績，但希捷2022財年的財務業績仍值得關注。

We grew revenue by 9% year-over-year, fueled by 24% growth in our mass capacity products. We expanded profitability even faster than revenue, leading to fiscal year non-GAAP gross margin above 30% and non-GAAP operating margin above 18%, and we achieved record non-GAAP EPS of $8.18.

我們的營收年增9%，這得益於大容量產品24%的成長。我們的獲利能力成長速度甚至快於營收成長，使得本財年非公認會計準則下的毛利率超過30%，非公認會計準則下的營業利潤率超過18%，並且我們實現了創紀錄的8.18美元的非公認會計準則下每股收益。

In fiscal 2022, we generated $1.3 billion in free cash flow, our highest level in 4 years and maintained our commitment to returning cash to our shareholders, funding $610 million in dividends and repurchasing 9% of our shares outstanding.

2022 財年，我們產生了 13 億美元的自由現金流，這是 4 年來的最高水平，我們繼續履行向股東返還現金的承諾，支付 6.1 億美元的股息，並回購了 9% 的流通股。

We are also demonstrating technology leadership and executing our product road map to support the growing demand for data. We attained our fastest ever ramp with the 20-plus terabyte nearline platform, handily beating the projections that we made at the start of the quarter. We are on track to achieve volume and revenue crossover with the 18-terabyte drives in the current quarter.

我們也在展現技術領導力，並執行產品路線圖，以支援日益增長的數據需求。憑藉20TB以上的近線平台，我們實現了有史以來最快的成長速度，輕鬆超越了本季初的預期。我們預計在本季憑藉18TB硬碟實現銷售和營收的交叉。

The 20-plus terabyte product family is based on our highly successful common platform design, which has enabled us to scale and ramp to yield quickly as evidenced by the results I just shared. We have the flexibility to extend into the mid- to upper 20-terabyte capacity points with minimal changes to our design, which allows us to meet customers' timing, readiness and offers an attractive cost profile for both customers and for Seagate.

20TB以上產品系列基於我們高度成功的通用平台設計，這使我們能夠快速擴展並提升產量，正如我剛才分享的結果所證明的那樣。我們能夠靈活地擴展到20TB的中高端容量，只需對設計進行微小的改動，這使我們能夠滿足客戶的時間表和準備情況，並為客戶和希捷提供極具吸引力的成本配置。

We have worked tirelessly over the last 3 to 4 years, improving the resilience of our supply chain, aligning our mass capacity product portfolio to our customers' needs and strengthening our financial foundation. Our operational execution, combined with structural changes that have taken place in the industry, namely the transition to mass capacity products and increased supply discipline, support our view that the company is fundamentally stronger today and better positioned for the future.

過去三、四年來，我們不懈努力，提升了供應鏈的韌性，使大容量產品組合更符合客戶需求，並鞏固了財務基礎。我們的營運執行力，加上產業發生的結構性變化，即向大容量產品的轉型和更嚴格的供應紀律，都支持了我們的觀點：公司目前已從根本上更加強大，也為未來做好了更充分的準備。

Let us now turn to the current market environment. Despite the ongoing impacts of COVID lockdowns and supply challenges, mass capacity revenue was flat quarter-over-quarter, due in part the strong cloud customer adoption of our 20-plus terabyte nearline drives. U.S. cloud data center demand remains strong. However, persistent non-HDD component shortages have led to inventory imbalances, precluding new data center build-outs from being completed.

現在讓我們來看看目前的市場環境。儘管新冠疫情封鎖和供應挑戰持續影響，但大容量硬碟收入環比持平，部分原因是雲端客戶對我們20多TB近線硬碟的強勁採用。美國雲端資料中心的需求依然強勁。然而，非HDD組件的持續短缺導致庫存失衡，阻礙了新資料中心的建設。

These, along with other supply disruptions have led to a buildup in inventory levels across a broad spectrum of customers, a trend that continued through the end of the quarter. As macro uncertainties and inflationary pressures intensify, we expect customers will increasingly focus on reducing their inventory levels while maintaining the ability to address end market demand.

這些因素以及其他供應中斷導致眾多客戶庫存水準上升，這一趨勢持續至本季末。隨著宏觀不確定性和通膨壓力加劇，我們預期客戶將更加重視降低庫存水平，同時保持滿足終端市場需求的能力。

At the same time, our Asia-based cloud customers are dealing with the impacts of COVID restrictive measures, which have had far-reaching effects across all of the end markets that we serve in the region. In the VIA markets, recall that many of the major projects driving demand are in the Asia region, particularly in China, where lockdowns are impacting our near-term revenue. While the situation remains fluid, we are confident that mass capacity demand growth will resume once lockdowns ease and inventory levels normalize.

同時，我們亞洲的雲端客戶正在應對新冠疫情限制措施的影響，這些措施對我們在該地區服務的所有終端市場都產生了深遠的影響。在VIA市場，許多推動需求的主要項目都在亞洲地區，尤其是在中國，而這些地區的封鎖措施正在影響我們的短期收入。儘管情況依然動盪，但我們相信，一旦封鎖解除、庫存水準恢復正常，大規模產能需求將恢復成長。

Within the legacy markets, demand rapidly deteriorated at the end of the quarter as lockdowns and surging inflation severely impacted consumer spending for PCs and external drives. Exiting the June quarter, the legacy business represented only 20% of our HDD revenue, which is a historic low.

在傳統市場，由於疫情封鎖和通膨飆升嚴重影響了個人電腦和外接硬碟的消費支出，需求在本季末迅速惡化。截至6月當季，傳統業務僅占我們硬碟收入的20%，創歷史新低。

In response to the current business conditions, Seagate is taking actions to maintain strong supply discipline and a favorable pricing environment. We are reducing our manufacturing production plans while continuing to focus on driving efficiencies in the factory and across supply chains.

為應對當前的業務狀況，希捷正在採取措施，以確保嚴格的供應紀律和有利的定價環境。我們正在削減製造生產計劃，同時繼續專注於提高工廠和整個供應鏈的效率。

We are maintaining prudent cost controls across the business and executing our product road map, which also helps to support our customers' TCO objectives. While the current environment is challenging, the multiple secular drivers fueling long-term demand for mass capacity storage have not changed, and in fact, continue to expand.

我們在整個業務範圍內保持審慎的成本控制，並執行我們的產品路線圖，這也有助於支援客戶實現整體擁有成本 (TCO) 目標。儘管當前環境充滿挑戰，但推動大容量儲存長期需求的多重長期驅動因素並未改變，事實上，這些因素仍在持續增強。

Digital transformation is still in the early innings according to leading cloud service providers who have estimated that only 10% of corporate IT has moved to the cloud. New AI applications continue to emerge with the AI engines requiring a massive amount of new data for training, data that must be captured, analyzed, stored and moved across a more distributed multi-cloud network. And as the digital and physical worlds begin to converge, enterprises are employing data-intensive digital twins to enhance decision-making and overall business efficiencies.

根據領先的雲端服務供應商估計，目前僅有10%的企業IT遷移至雲端，數位轉型仍處於早期階段。新的人工智慧應用不斷湧現，人工智慧引擎需要大量新資料進行訓練，這些資料必須在更分散的多雲網路中被捕獲、分析、儲存和移動。隨著數位世界和物理世界的融合，企業正在採用數據密集的數位孿生來增強決策能力和整體業務效率。

These trends dovetailed into a view that businesses will need technology investment strategies to remain competitive in a data-driven world, which includes the need for mass capacity storage and infrastructure. Seagate is poised to benefit with a broad product portfolio of cloud and edge infrastructure solutions from mass capacity HDDs to enterprise systems to our live cloud and mobile service offerings.

這些趨勢與以下觀點相契合：企業需要技術投資策略才能在數據驅動的世界中保持競爭力，這包括對大容量儲存和基礎設施的需求。希捷擁有廣泛的雲端和邊緣基礎設施解決方案產品組合，涵蓋大容量硬碟、企業系統以及即時雲端和行動服務，定能從中受益。

We are executing our development plans for the 30 terabyte plus product family based on our innovative HAMR technology, which enables capacity points of 30, 40, 50 terabytes and beyond to support future data demand growth.

我們正在基於創新的 HAMR 技術實施 30 TB 以上產品系列的開發計劃，該技術可實現 30、40、50 TB 及以上的容量點，以支援未來的資料需求成長。

Seagate's innovation extends beyond our HDD technology leadership. We're garnering recognition for our systems portfolio, capturing the coveted Product of the Year Award for hardware infrastructure at this year's NAB show for our CORVAULT storage system. CORVAULT has also gained customer attention with its unique autonomous drive regeneration technology, which combines our device and systems expertise to enable self-healing capabilities.

希捷的創新遠不止於我們在硬碟技術領域的領先地位。我們的系統產品組合備受認可，CORVAULT 儲存系統在今年的 NAB 展會上榮獲令人垂涎的「年度最佳硬體基礎設施產品獎」。 CORVAULT 獨特的自主硬碟再生技術也贏得了客戶的青睞，該技術融合了希捷的設備和系統專業知識，實現了自我修復功能。

These systems provide enterprise CIOs with peace of mind that their data will be protected while offering a strong TCO value proposition. Additionally, technologies such as self-healing distributed data protection, and secure erase play a critical role in reducing the environmental impact of our products.

這些系統不僅能讓企業資訊長安心無虞，確保他們的資料得到妥善保護，還能提供強大的整體擁有成本 (TCO) 價值主張。此外，自修復分散式資料保護和安全擦除等技術在減少我們產品對環境的影響方面發揮關鍵作用。

Drives with these technologies can be repaired, reused or recycled rather than just discarded thus helping to preserve the Earth's precious resources. These efforts are critically important to Seagate and a key pillar of our product circularity strategy. We are also receiving very positive feedback from customers on a global basis for our work in this area.

採用這些技術的硬碟可以進行維修、重複使用或回收，而不是直接丟棄，有助於保護地球的寶貴資源。這些舉措對希捷至關重要，也是我們產品循環策略的關鍵支柱。我們在這方面的工作也得到了全球客戶的正面回饋。

In closing, Seagate has broad exposure to the strong secular tailwinds driving demand for mass capacity storage. These trends remain intact, which lends confidence that growth will resume the supply constraints and COVID lockdown impacts ease. Seagate is fundamentally a stronger company today and is exceptionally well positioned to endure the current market environment.

最後，希捷廣泛受益於推動大容量儲存需求的強勁長期利好因素。這些趨勢依然維持，這讓我們有信心，成長將彌補供應限制，並緩解新冠疫情封鎖帶來的影響。希捷目前的基本面已增強，並且具備極強的實力來應對當前的市場環境。

We have the right product portfolio, deep customer relationships and operational agility to optimize profits and fuel growth.

我們擁有合適的產品組合、深厚的客戶關係和營運彈性，可以優化利潤並促進成長。

I'll now hand the call over to Gianluca to discuss the financial results.

我現在將電話交給 Gianluca 討論財務結果。

Thank you, Dave. While demand for our mass capacity products remained very healthy in the June quarter, the intensifying economic pressures, buildup of inventory at our customers and COVID restrictive measures that Dave discussed earlier and a more significant impact on our results than we were anticipating, particularly in the legacy business.

謝謝，戴夫。雖然我們大容量產品的需求在6月季度保持非常健康，但不斷加劇的經濟壓力、客戶庫存的積累以及戴夫之前提到的新冠疫情限制措施，對我們的業績產生了比我們預期更大的影響，尤其是在傳統業務方面。

Despite lower-than-anticipated revenue levels, and extraordinary cost pressures. Our non-GAAP gross margin expanded slightly to 29.3% in the June quarter, with HDD gross margin remaining comfortably inside our target range of 30% to 33%.

儘管收入水準低於預期，且成本壓力巨大，但我們的非公認會計準則毛利率在6月當季小幅上升至29.3%，而硬碟毛利率則維持在我們30%至33%的目標範圍內。

Our results are due in part to steady demand for our mass capacity products and a mix shift toward higher capacity drives. In the June quarter, total hard disk drive capacity shipments increased slightly to 155 exabytes, of which the mass capacity market made up 90% of the total with shipments of 129 exabytes, up 4% sequentially and 12% year-over-year.

我們的業績部分歸功於市場對大容量產品的穩定需求，以及產品組合向更高容量硬碟的轉變。第二季度，硬碟總容量出貨量小幅成長至155EB，其中大容量市場佔90%，出貨量達129EB，季增4%，年增12%。

Our nearline product contributed 119 exabyte, up 1% sequentially and 17% year-on-year, bolstered by strong U.S. cloud customer demand for our 20-plus terabyte product family. With a richer mix of high capacity nearline drives supporting record total HDD capacity per drive of 7.8 terabyte compared with 5.4 terabytes just 1 year ago.

我們的近線產品貢獻了119EB，季增1%，年增17%，這得益於美國雲端客戶對我們20TB以上產品系列的強勁需求。我們擁有更豐富的高容量近線硬碟組合，支援單盤總容量達到創紀錄的7.8TB，而一年前僅為5.4TB。

On a revenue basis, mask capacity represented 80% of total HDD revenue at $1.9 billion in the June quarter, flat compared to the prior quarter and slightly higher than the prior year period. Strong U.S. cloud demand, combined with a sequential improvement in the VIA market, albeit of very weak March levels, offset lower-than-expected sales into the Asia cloud market, which have also been affected by COVID lockdowns.

以營收計算，6月季光罩產能佔HDD總營收的80%，達19億美元，與上一季持平，略高於去年同期。美國雲端運算需求強勁，加上VIA市場較上季改善（儘管3月表現非常疲軟），抵銷了亞洲雲端運算市場銷售額低於預期的影響，亞洲雲端運算市場也受到了新冠疫情封鎖的影響。

While we believe the end market demand disruptions are temporary, we are mindful of prevailing macro uncertainties which influenced how quickly the VIA and other mass capacity markets will return to strong annual growth. Within the legacy market, revenue was $489 million, down 24% sequentially and 43% year-over-year. The decline was most pronounced in the client PC end market, which now represents a mid-single-digit percentage of our overall revenue.

雖然我們認為終端市場需求中斷是暫時的，但我們也注意到當前的宏觀不確定性，這些不確定性影響了VIA和其他大容量市場恢復強勁年度成長的速度。在傳統市場中，營收為4.89億美元，季減24%，年減43%。客戶端PC終端市場的降幅最為明顯，目前該市場在我們整體營收中所佔比例為中等個位數。

Consumer demand also deteriorated more than anticipated, reflecting the sharp rise in inflation impacting consumer discretionary spending. Finally, revenue for our non-HDD business was $218 million, down about 8% sequentially and 21% year-over-year.

消費者需求的惡化程度也超出預期，反映出通膨大幅上升影響了消費者的可自由支配支出。最後，我們的非硬碟業務營收為2.18億美元，季減約8%，年減21%。

We saw a sharp uptick in our system business as we were able to mitigate some of the component shortages we have been experiencing, which enable us to begin shipping some of the record order backlog. However, component availability remains a challenge and impacted the SSD business during the quarter, leaving us unable to fulfill all the customer demand. We continue to work with our suppliers to support customer demand as constrained is.

由於我們緩解了部分組件短缺問題，系統業務大幅成長，得以開始出貨部分創紀錄的積壓訂單。然而，組件供應仍然是一個挑戰，並在本季度影響了固態硬碟 (SSD) 業務，導致我們無法滿足所有客戶需求。我們將繼續與供應商合作，以在客戶需求受限的情況下繼續提供支援。

Moving to our operational performance. Non-GAAP gross profit in the June quarter was $771 million, corresponding to non-GAAP gross margin of 29.3%, up 10 basis points quarter-over-quarter. As noted earlier, the increased mix of mass capacity products and transition to higher capacity drives more than offset lower business volumes and higher component costs.

談到我們的營運表現。 6月當季非公認會計準則毛利為7.71億美元，對應非公認會計準則毛利率為29.3%，季增10個基點。如前所述，大容量產品組合的增加以及向更高容量的轉型，足以抵消業務量下降和組件成本上升的影響。

Non-GAAP operating expenses were $349 million, slightly up quarter-over-quarter and in line with our expectations as business travel and sales and marketing activity resumed. Our resulting non-GAAP operating income was $422 million or 16.1% of revenue. We will continue to focus on managing costs and balancing supply with demand to position the company to expand operating margin back into the target range of 18% to 22% when top line growth resumes, which we believe could begin later in the fiscal year.

非公認會計準則營運支出為3.49億美元，季比略有成長，且符合我們的預期，因為商務旅遊和銷售及行銷活動已恢復。因此，非公認會計準則營運利潤為4.22億美元，佔營收的16.1%。我們將繼續專注於成本管理，平衡供需，以確保公司在營收恢復成長（我們認為可能在本財年稍後開始）時，將營運利潤率提升至18%至22%的目標區間。

Based on diluted share count of approximately 217 million shares, non-GAAP EPS for the June quarter was $1.59.

根據約 2.17 億股的稀釋股數計算，6 月當季的非 GAAP EPS 為 1.59 美元。

Moving on to the balance sheet and cash flow. Inventory increased to approximately $1.57 billion as we ended the quarter with higher finished good consistent with the rapidly changing business environment.

再來看看資產負債表和現金流。隨著本季末成品庫存增加至約15.7億美元，這與快速變化的商業環境一致。

We continue to maintain a higher level of physical components and use ocean trade to reduce logistic costs and support future product demand. Based on our current outlook, we expect inventory to decline slightly as we move through the calendar year. Capital expenditures were $72 million for the quarter and totaled $381 million for the fiscal year or just over 3% of fiscal year revenue, reflecting our focus on aligning supply and demand. Given the current business environment, we will continue to carefully manage our investment and supply.

我們繼續保持較高的實體零件庫存水平，並利用海運貿易來降低物流成本，並支持未來的產品需求。根據我們目前的展望，我們預計庫存將隨著年度的推移而略有下降。本季資本支出為7,200萬美元，本財年資本支出總計3.81億美元，佔本財年收入的3%多一點，這反映了我們對平衡供需的重視。鑑於當前的商業環境，我們將繼續謹慎管理投資和供應。

Free cash flow generation was $108 million in the June quarter, down from $363 million sequentially due to a combination of factors, including higher inventory levels, the timing of certain and linearity that was heavily weighted to the back end of the quarter. This impact should normalize in subsequent quarters.

6月當季自由現金流為1.08億美元，較上一季的3.63億美元有所下降，原因包括庫存水準上升、特定業務的時機以及季度末的線性成長。這種影響預計將在後續季度中逐漸恢復正常。

Overall, we are pleased with our free cash flow for fiscal 2022, which increased 13% year-over-year to approximately $1.3 billion. We currently expect continued growth in our annual free cash flow generation in fiscal 2023, depending on the pace of economic recovery.

整體而言，我們對2022財年的自由現金流感到滿意，年增13%，達到約13億美元。我們目前預計，2023財年的年度自由現金流將持續成長，但具體成長速度取決於經濟復甦的步伐。

Consistent with our commitment to returning cash to shareholders we used $152 million for the quarterly dividend and $486 million to repurchase 6 million ordinary shares, exiting the quarter with 210 million shares outstanding.

根據我們向股東返還現金的承諾，我們使用 1.52 億美元作為季度股息，並使用 4.86 億美元回購 600 萬股普通股，本季末流通股數為 2.1 億股。

And approximately, $2.4 billion remaining in our authorization. Over the past 2 years, we have reported more than 20% of Seagate share outstanding at an average price of approximately $71 per share. We ended the fiscal year with cash and cash equivalents of $650 million, and total liquidity was approximately $2.4 billion, including our revolving credit facility.

我們的授權資金剩餘約24億美元。過去兩年，我們報告希捷已發行股票超過20%，平均價格約為每股71美元。本財年結束時，我們持有6.5億美元的現金和現金等價物，總流動資金約24億美元，其中包括我們的循環信貸額度。

Total debt balance at the end of the quarter was relatively flat with the prior period at $5.6 billion. Adjusted EBITDA was $2.5 billion for fiscal '22 resulting in total debt to leverage ratio of 2.2x. As we enter fiscal 2023, we expect macro uncertainties and non-HDD component shortages to continue pressuring our end market over the near term.

本季末的總債務餘額與上期基本持平，為56億美元。 22財年調整後EBITDA為25億美元，總負債槓桿比率為2.2倍。進入2023財年，我們預計宏觀不確定性和非硬碟組件短缺將在短期內繼續對我們的終端市場構成壓力。

Drawing on our decades of experience in managing the company through dynamic industry environment, we are taking action to carefully manage our cash and safeguard profitability, including managing our supply to restore healthy customer inventory levels.

憑藉數十年在動態行業環境中管理公司的經驗，我們正在採取行動，謹慎管理我們的現金並保障盈利能力，包括管理我們的供應以恢復健康的客戶庫存水平。

With that in mind, our outlook for the September quarter is as follows: we expect revenue to be in the range of $2.5 billion, plus or minus $150 million. At the midpoint of our revenue guidance, non-GAAP operating margin is expected to be slightly above 15%, and we expect non-GAAP EPS to be in the range of $1.40 plus or minus $0.20.

考慮到這一點，我們對9月份當季的預期如下：我們預計營收將在25億美元上下浮動1.5億美元。以我們營收預期的中位數計算，非公認會計準則（Non-GAAP）營業利潤率預計略高於15%，非公認會計準則每股收益預計在1.40美元上下浮動0.20美元。

I will now turn the call back to Dave for final comments.

現在我將把電話轉回給戴夫，請他發表最後的評論。

Thanks, Gianluca. Last quarter, I expressed confidence in the long-term growth trajectory of our business, and that view holds firm today. The multiple secular trends fueling demand for mass capacity HDD storage also catalyze growth for our system solutions and Lyve services business and Seagate is well positioned to benefit.

謝謝，Gianluca。上個季度，我對我們業務的長期成長軌跡充滿信心，這一觀點至今依然堅定。多重長期趨勢推動了對大容量HDD儲存的需求，也促進了我們系統解決方案和Lyve服務業務的成長，希捷已準備好從中受益。

Our products are funded on our drive innovation, and we continue to execute our strong HDD product road maps. We are shipping the 20-plus terabyte family of nearline drives and high volume and we are well down the development path towards launching our 30-plus terabyte family of drives based on HAMR technology.

我們的產品以硬碟創新為基石，並持續推進強大的 HDD 產品路線圖。我們已推出容量超過 20TB 的近線硬碟系列和高容量產品，並正在穩步推進基於 HAMR 技術的 30TB 以上硬碟系列的開發。

We expect to begin customer shipments of these HAMR-based products by this time next year. Seagate will navigate through the near-term market dynamics by focusing on what we do best, namely run efficient and predictable operations, partner closely with our customers, put in place prudent spending controls and align supply with demand.

我們預計明年此時將開始向客戶出貨這些基於 HAMR 的產品。希捷將專注於自身最擅長的領域，從而應對短期市場動態，即高效且可預測的運營，與客戶緊密合作，實施審慎的支出控制，並根據需求調整供應。

We believe that these actions position us to quickly return to our long-term financial model once these macro pressures abate delivering 3% to 6% revenue growth and operating margins of 18% to 22% of revenue, all the while maintaining our commitment of returning capital to shareholders. While the dynamic market environment is disrupting typical demand patterns, the underlying demand for data remains strong, which supports flat or even slightly higher revenue in fiscal 2023 and depending on the timing and pace of the economic recovery.

我們相信，這些措施將使我們能夠在宏觀壓力消退後迅速回歸長期財務模式，實現3%至6%的收入成長，營業利潤率達到18%至22%，同時維持我們向股東返還資本的承諾。儘管動態的市場環境正在擾亂傳統的需求模式，但對數據的潛在需求仍然強勁，這將支撐我們在2023財年的收入持平甚至略有增長，具體增長速度取決於經濟復甦的時間和速度。

I'd like to conclude by expressing gratitude to our employees for their incredible efforts through the fiscal year. I'd also like to thank our suppliers, customers and partners for their contributions to our results and our shareholders for their ongoing support.

最後，我要感謝全體員工在本財年所付出的辛勤努力。我還要感謝供應商、客戶和合作夥伴對我們績效的貢獻，以及股東們的持續支持。

Gianluca and I will now take your questions.

詹盧卡和我現在將回答大家的問題。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today comes from Aaron Rakers from Wells Fargo.

（操作員指示）我們今天的第一個問題來自富國銀行的 Aaron Rakers。

Yes. I guess I want to go down the path on the nearline business. As you look back over this past quarter, relative to the 119 exabytes that you shipped, I guess the first part of the question is, did that play out largely as you expected? Did you see demand slow down at all through the course of the quarter.

是的。我想談談近線業務。回顧上個季度，相對於你們119EB的出貨量，我想問題的第一部分是，這是否大致符合你們的預期？你們在本季是否發現需求有所放緩？

Any kind of changes relative to your initial expectations coming into the June quarter? And how are you currently kind of thinking about the demand profile of that end market considering your comments on inventory as you kind of look at your current quarter guidance.

相對於您最初對六月季度的預期，有什麼改變嗎？考慮到您對庫存的評論以及您對當前季度指引的看法，您目前如何看待終端市場的需求狀況？

Thanks for the question, Aaron. If I look at where we were 2 quarters ago, predictability of the cloud, 20-terabyte transition, those kind of tactics that you referred to. I think it's been fairly predictable through the end of last quarter.

謝謝你的提問，Aaron。如果我回顧一下兩個季度前的情況，例如雲端運算的可預測性、20TB 的遷移，以及你提到的那些策略，我認為到上個季度末，這些都相當可預測。

We do see, in particular, in China and some of CSPs, some inventory overages. So what we're doing to try to compensate for that, is to not make sure we don't pack into it, not building too many 16s and 18s, if you will, and heading up the transitions to the 20s there. So it's more of a looking forward where I see issues. It's not really with U.S. CSPs.

我們確實看到，尤其是在中國和一些雲端運算服務供應商（CSP）存在庫存過剩的情況。因此，為了彌補這個問題，我們正在採取的措施是，確保不會過度擁擠，不會建造太多的16英寸和18英寸（如果你願意這麼說的話），並提前過渡到20英寸（如果你願意這麼說的話）。所以，我更傾向於展望未來，看看是否有問題。美國的雲端運算服務供應商（CSP）目前並沒有出現這種情況。

I mean everyone is having the same supply chain issues out in the world, but some people are navigating it differently. And I think there's a good market demand out for mass capacity and especially in the cloud businesses. I do think there are some temporary issues that people are getting through given their supply chain points or COVID lockdowns or things like that.

我的意思是，世界上每個人都面臨著同樣的供應鏈問題，但有些人採取了不同的應對方式。我認為市場對大規模容量的需求很大，尤其是在雲端業務領域。我確實認為，由於供應鏈環節、新冠疫情封鎖等原因，人們正在經歷一些暫時性的問題。

Yes. And any thoughts on how we think about the end demand? I know in the past, we've talked about kind of a longer-term growth rate in that nearline market being kind of in that 30%-plus range.

是的。您對最終需求有什麼看法？我知道我們過去曾討論過近線市場的長期成長率大約在30%以上。

Do you think that to kind of get back to that flat to slight revenue growth into -- for fiscal '23 that that's how we should kind of think about the demand profile into the back half of the fiscal year. Is that kind of how you're thinking about it?

您認為，為了在2023財年恢復穩定或略微的收入成長，我們應該這樣考慮下半年的需求狀況嗎？您是這樣想的嗎？

Yes. So we're going to pause a little bit because make sure the inventory flows through here in the front half of the year, but we'll eventually get back on that. And we do have products coming higher capacity points, which actually helps drive the extra demand as well as those customers wake up, maybe they were stuck on 16 before and now they're going to be a 20 or 20 plus, right? So that will help the exabyte demand as well.

是的。我們會暫停一段時間，確保上半年庫存到位，但最終會恢復。我們確實有更高容量的產品，這實際上有助於推動額外的需求，也有助於那些客戶意識到，他們之前可能停留在16GB，現在要達到20GB甚至更多，對吧？這也將有助於EB需求的成長。

Ultimately, we're going to be driving out of the back of this fiscal year, like we said, 30 terabytes. So we should get back to some healthy exabyte growth. But I think what we're seeing right now is very tactical.

最終，正如我們之前所說，我們將在本財年實現30TB的銷售目標。所以我們應該會回到健康的EB級成長水準。但我認為，我們目前看到的情況非常具有戰術意義。

Our next question comes from Wamsi Mohan from Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Wamsi Mohan。

Dave, you mentioned a return to growth later in the fiscal year. I was hoping you might give us some color around how you're thinking about the trajectory of recovery, both in mass capacity, are you assuming that you basically have a 2-quarter sort of slowdown here as inventory gets worked down and the demand headwinds abate.

戴夫，您提到了本財年後期將恢復成長。我希望您能談談您對復甦軌蹟的看法，包括大規模產能方面。您是否認為，隨著庫存減少和需求逆風減弱，第二季的經濟成長會放緩？

And is gross margin going to be following a similar trajectory. So are we sort of at the bottom of gross margins? Or should we expect gross margins to contract further from here?

毛利率也會遵循類似的軌跡嗎？那麼，我們的毛利率是不是已經在底部了？或者說，我們預期毛利率還會進一步下降？

Thanks, Wamsi. I'll let Gianluca answer the gross margin point. From a demand perspective, the legacy was hit pretty hard as we talked about in the prepared remarks.

謝謝，Wamsi。關於毛利率的問題，我請Gianluca來回答。從需求角度來看，正如我們在準備好的發言中所提到的，遺留業務受到了相當嚴重的打擊。

And that's there are a lot of the legacy products that are -- the inventory is too high now on things like PCs. It's so de minimis as a part of our portfolio now that we're probably not going to pack anything into it, but some of the legacy products will suffer this quarter and then they'll come back a little bit on the stuff that's more salient for us now because 80% is mass capacity.

很多傳統產品——比如PC，現在庫存都過高了。作為我們產品組合的一部分，這些產品現在庫存量非常小，我們可能不會再往裡塞任何東西。不過，有些傳統產品本季會受到影響，之後在那些對我們更有利的產品上，庫存會稍微回升，因為80%的庫存都是大容量的。

There still are some things like the VIA market that are not going through their normal seasonality gyrations, they're actually more impacted just because of COVID lockdowns and so on. But we do think that after we get through that period, whether that starts at the end of Q1 or Q2, we don't know right now, but we think that there's a lot of pent-up demand that's coming.

有些市場，例如 VIA 市場，並沒有經歷正常的季節性波動，實際上受到的影響更大，只是因為新冠疫情封鎖等等。但我們確實認為，度過這段時期後，無論是從第一季末還是第二季末開始，目前我們還不確定，但我們認為大量被壓抑的需求即將到來。

And so that's one of the reasons what we're doing is we're changing over from some of the more -- the older products that might be going into life to some of our newer products like the 20-plus terabyte some of the mid-cap nearline products are just making sure that the inventory that we do have is more current and when those customers are ready for the strong polls again, then we have the best stuff out in front of them.

因此，我們正在做的事情之一就是將一些可能即將投入使用的較舊產品轉換為一些較新的產品，例如 20 多兆字節的一些中型近線產品，只是為了確保我們擁有的庫存更為及時，當這些客戶再次準備好進行強有力的投票時，我們就會將最好的產品擺在他們面前。

Gianluca, do you want to talk about gross margins?

詹盧卡，你想談談毛利率嗎？

Yes, clearly, we are positive on our expectation for the business to recover soon and to improve sequentially. I think the seasonality will be different than what we have seen in the last year, for example.

是的，我們顯然對業務很快復甦並環比改善的預期持樂觀態度。我認為今年的季節性因素將與去年的情況有所不同。

I would say mass capacity is actually strong already. Now we have done 5 consecutive quarters of record or near record revenue and volume and gross margin. Actually the trend in gross margin is a bit different depending from which segment you are looking at.

我想說的是，大規模產能其實已經很強勁了。現在我們已經連續五個季度創下或接近創紀錄的收入、銷售和毛利率。實際上，毛利率的趨勢會因你關注的細分市場而略有不同。

The legacy part and the non-HDD part have seen some decline in gross margin in the last 4 quarters. The mass capacity part has been very strong. So at the total level, we don't see a lot of change because the increase in mix to the mass capacity basically is offsetting the decline for the legacy and the non-hard disk. But in future, with a continued improvement in mainly in mass capacity and the mix continues to go into the 80% plus of the total [RPF] being more capacity. That should bring an improvement in gross margin, too.

過去四個季度，傳統儲存和非硬碟儲存的毛利率有所下降。大容量儲存部分一直表現強勁。因此，從總體來看，我們預計不會出現太大變化，因為大容量儲存產品組合的增加基本上抵消了傳統儲存和非硬碟儲存產品的下降。但未來，隨著大容量儲存產品組合的持續改善，以及產品組合持續佔據總容量（RPF）80%以上份額的趨勢，毛利率也有望提升。

Our next question comes from Krish Sankar from Cowen and Company.

我們的下一個問題來自 Cowen and Company 的 Krish Sankar。

The first 1 is for Dave. You mentioned the U.S. CSPs are pretty strong. How do you think about their demand into the calendar second half of this year? Or do you think that's the next shoe to drop?

第一個問題問戴夫。您提到美國雲端運算服務供應商（CSP）的勢頭相當強勁。您認為今年下半年他們的需求會是如何？或者您認為下半年的需求會下降嗎？

And then a quick question for Gianluca. You said you have like $2.4 billion remaining in the buyback or your cash levels have come down. So how do you think about the sustainability of the buyback over the next few quarters?

然後問詹盧卡一個簡單的問題。您之前說過，回購計畫還剩下大約24億美元，或者說現金水準已經下降了。那麼您如何看待未來幾季回購計畫的可持續性？

Thanks, Krish. Yes, I don't think there's another shoe to drop to be very clear. I think depending on which customer, there may be very specific challenges that they have in their data center build-outs.

謝謝，Krish。是的，我認為沒有什麼比這更清楚的了。我認為，根據客戶的不同，他們在資料中心建立過程中可能會遇到一些非常具體的挑戰。

But in general, there -- the cloud storage demand growth continues and their CapEx investments to continue. And so I think in some places, it's becoming very predictable with them. And so that's why -- one of the reasons why we've kind of establish the businesses we have as we pivot our mass capacity.

但整體而言，雲端儲存需求持續成長，資本支出也將持續成長。所以我認為在某些地方，這種情況變得非常可預測。這就是為什麼我們在調整大規模容量的同時，也建立了現有業務的原因之一。

It's interesting right now I think most of the capacity transitions that we're talking about with 20 terabytes and beyond, are the people we still have yet to transition are the people who are in the markets that are actually most impacted by some of the COVID shutdowns and things like that. So that's the way I think about it, if that helps.

有趣的是，目前我們討論的20TB以上容量轉型，大部分尚未轉型的市場，實際上受新冠疫情封鎖等因素影響最大。以上就是我的想法，希望對您有幫助。

And then Gianluca can answer the question.

然後詹盧卡就可以回答這個問題了。

Yes. We are very committed to our shareholder return program. And so to both the dividend and the share buyback. As you said, we still have $2.4 billion of -- as amount authorized for our share buyback.

是的。我們非常重視股東回報計劃，包括股利和股票回購。正如您所說，我們仍然有24億美元的授權金額用於股票回購。

Our free cash flow in fiscal Q4 was lower than what we were expecting now for the reason that I explained in the remarks. Of course, we expect free cash flow to improve -- strongly improve in the next few quarters, and that will help us to continue our shareholder return and also increase our cash balance.

由於我在評論中解釋的原因，我們第四財季的自由現金流低於目前的預期。當然，我們預計自由現金流將在未來幾季大幅改善，這將有助於我們繼續為股東帶來回報，並增加我們的現金餘額。

Our next question comes from Timothy Arcuri from UBS.

我們的下一個問題來自瑞銀的提摩西‧阿庫裡。

This is Jason on for Tim from UBS. Just a couple of questions. So my first 1 is, as you noted, there has been a lot of concerns around meeting consumer demand. I know consumer legacy market it's still a much smaller portion of your business than your VIA line market, but how can we think about the trajectory of your legacy businesses in terms of exabytes shipment for the second half of this calendar year?

我是瑞銀的傑森，接替提姆的訪問。我只想問幾個問題。我的第一個問題是，正如您所說，在滿足消費者需求方面存在許多擔憂。我知道，消費類傳統市場在你們的業務中所佔的份額仍然比威盛系列市場小得多，但從今年下半年EB出貨量來看，我們如何看待你們傳統業務的發展軌跡？

Also, could you provide the same color on the VIA market in terms of exabyte shipment as well? And I have a follow-up.

另外，您能否提供威盛市場EB出貨量方面的相同數據？我有一個後續問題。

Thanks, Jason. So on the legacy demand, the consumer facing. So for example, the USB drives and the like, it's been a strong market through the COVID work-from-home period. Right now, the consumers in the world have decided that they're spending money on other things.

謝謝，傑森。關於消費者面臨的傳統需求。例如，U盤之類的產品，在新冠疫情居家辦公期間一直是個強勁的市場。現在，世界各地的消費者已經決定把錢花在其他東西上。

I think everyone knows this around. You can see these consumer spending patterns in many, many different markets, and we're not immune to any of that. I think that's some of the stuff that we have to make sure we pull back and position the right inventory. Those markets, in particular, are not going away, they may be slowly going down, but -- they're not like the PC or Notebook markets, which are effectively already gone. So we wouldn't have to debit those markets anymore because they're effectively gone.

我想大家都知道這一點。你可以在許多不同的市場看到這些消費者支出模式，我們並非完全免疫。我認為我們必須確保控制庫存，並配置合適的庫存。這些市場尤其如此，它們不會消失，它們可能正在緩慢下滑，但它們不像PC或筆記型電腦市場那樣，實際上已經消失了。所以我們不需要再從這些市場中扣款，因為它們實際上已經消失了。

Mission-critical has been a little bit choppy through the COVID period. It is slowly declining as well, but it has a long tail. So that's another place where there's probably a little bit too much inventory. So when we lump it together in those legacy markets, they will have longer tails that we're talking about now because the ones that we're going to go to 0 is effectively already gone there.

在新冠疫情期間，關鍵任務型產品市場波動較大。它也在緩慢下滑，但其長尾效應持續存在。所以，這也是庫存可能過剩的另一個領域。因此，當我們把這些傳統市場的情況綜合起來看，它們的長尾效應會更長，就像我們現在討論的那樣，因為我們即將歸零的庫存實際上已經消失了。

The exabytes were fairly low in the June quarter. We expect September as Dave was saying, not to be a strong quarter for legacy. Now usually, it is the quarter where you see some improvement from seasonality. We don't see this happening this year. December is a quarter where you will see some improvement. And then the second part of the fiscal year should continue to trend fairly well.

6月季度的EB數據相當低。正如Dave所說，我們預計9月份對傳統儲存業務來說不會是一個強勁的季度。通常情況下，9月會因季節性因素而出現一些改善。但我們認為今年不會出現這種情況。 12月份季度會出現一些改善。財年下半年應該會繼續保持良好的趨勢。

Got it. And my second question is on the part of road map. Your main competitor shared some color on their 20 and 22 terabyte product plans, where they're expecting the 20 P cross over by the end of this year. I was wondering if you could share any color or time lines on your product plans for 20 and 22 drives?

明白了。我的第二個問題是關於路線圖的。你們的主要競爭對手透露了他們20TB和22TB產品計畫的細節，他們預計20TB的交叉產品將在今年底推出。請問您能否分享一下20TB和22TB產品計畫的細節或時間表？

Yes. We said in the prepared remarks that our 20 would cross over relative to our 18, if you will, this quarter. So the quarter we're in right now. So we're ramping the 20 very hard. We met the fastest growth target that we'd ever had before. We said that a couple of quarters ago, and we've actually met that very happy with the 20-plus terabyte family.

是的。我們在準備好的演講稿中提到，本季我們的20TB產品線將與18TB產品線交叉。我們現在正處於這個季度。我們正全力推動20TB產品線的成長。我們實現了有史以來最快的成長目標。我們在幾個季度前就說過了，實際上，憑藉20TB以上的產品線，我們非常滿意地實現了這一目標。

There's a lot of variance of this family. There are variants that continue to be CMR. There's variants that are SMR. Those drives are out there in the world, various places. As a matter of fact, I think I said last quarter that most of 20s are actually being used and above 20 because of some of these variants. So we're fairly happy with how all that's latching out in the world. It's already at high volume.

這個系列有很多變體。有些變體繼續採用 CMR 模式，有些變體則採用 SMR 模式。這些硬碟遍布世界各地。事實上，我上個季度就說過，大多數 20 轉的硬碟實際上都在使用，而且由於某些變體，20 轉以上的硬碟也還在使用。所以我們對全球市場的發展相當滿意。現在的銷量已經很高了。

And with small changes, we can continue that a little bit to the conventional platform. We don't need any major technology transitions. With a bigger change to the heads and media and the recording channel and so on by the end of the year, we'll take that platform to 30 terabytes. So we're very confident in our product portfolio.

只要進行一些小改動，我們就能將此優勢延續到傳統平台。我們不需要任何重大的技術轉型。到今年年底，我們將對磁頭、介質、記錄通道等進行更大規模的改進，並將該平台的容量提升到 30TB。因此，我們對我們的產品組合非常有信心。

We don't really talk about all the details of 20, 22, 23, whatever people are using things out because I don't think that setting the right narrative. It's more just we want to make sure that we have flexibility with our platform that we're on today and then launching the 30 terabyte platform in the future with all the technology that comes in there, we're confident in, and we're driving it as hard as we can.

我們不會真正談論20TB、22TB、23TB，無論人們正在使用什麼，因為我認為這並不能給出正確的解釋。我們更希望確保目前的平台具有靈活性，並在未來推出30TB平台，並配備所有即將推出的技術。我們對該平台充滿信心，並且正在全力以赴地推進它。

Our next question comes from Patrick Ho from Stifel.

我們的下一個問題來自 Stifel 的 Patrick Ho。

Maybe, Dave, first off, on the big picture basis, you talked about introducing HAMR technology at 30 terabytes next year. Given the common platform that you have, that you mentioned about 20 terabytes to the mid-20s and the upper 20s, how do you correlate the demand trends from your customers in supplying these very attractive cost-efficient drives that you just talked about along versus, say, the 30-terabyte HAMR drives which I assume are going to be a little more costly in its initial ramp.

戴夫，首先，從總體來看，您提到明年將推出 30TB 的 HAMR 技術。考慮到您現有的通用平台，您提到 20TB 到 25TB 左右，您如何結合客戶的需求趨勢來提供您剛才提到的這些極具吸引力且經濟高效的硬碟，而不是像 30TB 的 HAMR 硬碟？我估計 30TB 的 HAMR 硬碟在初期量產時價格會略高一些。

Yes. Thanks for the question, Patrick. So it is a question of what can you make in high volume, where do we get our scrap and yields? And since there are so many heads and disks in there, our component readiness for the ramp is critical in our margins.

是的。謝謝你的提問，派崔克。所以，問題在於，你能大量生產什麼？我們從哪裡獲得廢料和成品？而且，由於磁頭和磁碟數量如此之多，我們為量產做好準備的零件對我們的利潤率至關重要。

And then going to the 30 terabyte, there are cost adders. There's a number of different technology transitions, not just to the writer the HAMR, if you will. The media has to change. The reader has to change. All the platform things the electronics serve mechanics, everything that gets you to 30 terabytes has to change.

然後，要達到 30TB 容量，成本就會增加。這需要一系列不同的技術轉型，而不僅僅是寫入器（例如 HAMR）。介質必須改變。讀取器必須改變。所有電子設備服務於機械裝置的平台，所有達到 30TB 容量的因素都必須改變。

So we're very confident in that. But how fast do we make that turn that's a good question. A lot of it is our ability to go work the yields and scrap and cost to the point where we need to be.

所以我們對此非常有信心。但我們能多快實現這個轉變呢？這是一個很好的問題。很大程度上取決於我們能否將良率、廢品率和成本控製到我們需要的水平。

I think from a customer perspective, that's a fairly big jump from 1 to the other and the TCO benefits when you think about building a data center and running it for 5 to 7 years, you're willing to entertain the discussion and then the more positive feedback you see on those initial drives, the more you'll be able to drive it hard.

我認為從客戶的角度來看，從 1 到另一個是相當大的飛躍，當您考慮構建一個數據中心並運行 5 到 7 年時，TCO 會帶來好處，您願意進行討論，然後您在這些初始驅動器上看到的積極反饋越多，您就越有能力努力推動它。

We've had customers that have been working with us on these technologies for a number of years now. And I think when we launched the product, I think they'll be very open to those discussions because they see tremendous benefit as well. So I think -- but balancing all these things is exactly the point of what we have to do in our operations, and that's what we're focused on.

我們的客戶多年來一直與我們合作開發這些技術。我認為，當我們推出產品時，他們會非常樂意參與這些討論，因為他們也看到了巨大的好處。所以我認為——平衡所有這些因素正是我們營運的重點，也是我們關注的重點。

Great. That's helpful. And just as my follow-up question for Gianluca. In terms of the cost pressures from COVID, elevated component costs, logistics costs, how much of an impact was it this past quarter? And how do you see, I guess, those additional basis points pressure on a going-forward basis?

太好了，這很有幫助。接下來我想問一下詹盧卡。就新冠疫情帶來的成本壓力、零件成本上漲、物流成本上升而言，上個季度的影響有多大？您如何看待這些額外的基點壓力在未來帶來的影響？

Yes. In the June quarter, we had a lot of cost pressures, not only from COVID, but also for inflation, some of our component costs have increased. As you have seen, we were able to keep the gross margin stable, as slightly up quarter-over-quarter despite a lower revenue.

是的。 6月當季，我們面臨很大的成本壓力，不僅來自新冠疫情，也受到通貨膨脹的影響，部分零件成本上漲。如您所見，儘管收入下降，但我們仍然保持了穩定的毛利率，環比略有上升。

So we are -- now we are taking our measure to offset the majority of those cost increase. Mix is also, of course, very important to us. I would say for the future, the part that is coming from inflation is probably not going to abate very quickly. So we probably expect the same impact for the next couple of quarters.

所以我們現在正在採取措施來抵銷大部分成本成長。當然，產品組合對我們來說也非常重要。我想說，就未來而言，通貨膨脹帶來的影響可能不會很快消退。因此，我們預計未來幾季的影響可能仍會相同。

On the COVID side, on the logistics side, we have seen a little bit of improvement in the June quarter compared to the prior quarter. But no, I think I said in the past that the COVID cost was about 200 basis points of our gross margin for June was probably around 150. But this is not, of course, including all the extra costs coming from inflation.

在新冠疫情方面，在物流方面，我們看到6月季度的情況與上一季相比略有改善。不過，我記得我之前說過，新冠疫情造成的成本大約占我們6月份毛利率的200個基點，實際上大概是150個基點。當然，這還不包括通貨膨脹帶來的所有額外成本。

Our next question comes from Toshiya Hari from Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自高盛的 Toshiya Hari。

Dave, you talked about cutting production. I was hoping you could expand on this, I guess, specifically in terms of utilization rates, where do you expect to be over the coming quarters relative to the past couple of quarters?

戴夫，您提到了減產。我希望您能進一步闡述一下，特別是就利用率而言，您預計未來幾季的利用率與過去幾季相比會如何？

And I guess given the production cuts and given how you're vertically integrated, I guess I'm a little positively surprised by how well gross margins are hanging in. I guess, what are some of the offsets that you're incorporating in your September quarter guidance?

我想，考慮到減產以及你們的垂直整​​合方式，我對毛利率保持得如此之好感到有點驚訝。你們在 9 月季度指引中納入了哪些抵銷措施？

Yes. Thanks for the question. I think I'll ask Gianluca to break down some of the F Q1 bridge, if you will, on gross margins.

是的，謝謝你的提問。我想請Gianluca詳細分析一下F Q1橋的部分毛利率。

But let me give you a little perspective. Where we see too much inventory in the chain is in some of the markets that we were planning on building towards, and we don't want to do that. If I've learned 1 lesson in my life, it's -- when you see too much inventory, don't pack into it.

不過，讓我稍微幫你提個醒。我們發現，我們計劃拓展的一些市場庫存過剩，我們不想這樣做。如果我人生中學到了一個教訓，那就是──看到庫存過剩，就不要囤貨。

It's exacerbated a little bit by the linearity of the last quarter was poor, and therefore, almost by definition, you go to the next quarter, and it's linearity is poor again. And especially in these times, when you get out to the back of the quarter, you don't have opportunity to cross ship because freight logistics lanes are choked. And that drives costs.

上一季的線性度較差，這在一定程度上加劇了這種情況。因此，幾乎可以肯定，到了下一季度，線性度又會很差。尤其是在當前這種時候，當你進入季度末期時，由於貨運物流通道擁堵，你沒有機會進行跨船運輸。這會增加成本。

We're trying to put on a little bit more inventory so that we can use ocean freight, it becomes very problematic. And so that's one of the reasons why we're intentionally not packing into it. Relative to the build plan, so yes, by slowing things down on some lines that does have some financial impact, what we're really doing is pivoting over since the lead times, wafer lead times are quite long, product lead times are quite long for, say, 20 terabytes pivoting more towards 20 terabytes and beyond or pivoting more towards the new mid-cap nearline drive, we can do it.

我們正在嘗試增加一些庫存，以便使用海運，但這會非常麻煩。這也是我們故意不打包的原因之一。相對於生產計劃，放慢一些生產線的速度確實會有一些財務影響，但我們真正做的是轉型，因為晶圓的交付週期很長，產品交付週期也很長，比如20TB的產品，我們可以轉向20TB及以上容量的產品，或者轉向新的中型近線硬碟。

It just doesn't happen very quickly. And so the factories are still relatively full, if that helps exactly your question. You don't see as much absorption hit net-net, even though you're taking down the old products as pushing out the new, but there's an intention around not pushing too much into the chains, not having to price that stuff to move eventually into customers that really don't need the product right now.

只是不會很快發生。所以工廠仍然相對滿載運轉，如果這正好能幫助你回答這個問題的話。雖然你在下架舊產品的同時推出新產品，但你並沒有看到淨吸收量受到太大的影響，但我們的意圖是不要把太多的產品推給連鎖店，也不必為了最終把產品賣給那些目前並不需要這些產品的客戶而定價。

Now I would say this is where inflation is playing a role for everyone because you have the CFOs of those companies saying a slow down a little bit, and we have to be able to help our customers do that. Gianluca, do you want to...

現在我想說的是，通貨膨脹對每個人都有影響，因為這些公司的財務長都在說要稍微放慢速度，我們必須能夠幫助我們的客戶做到這一點。詹盧卡，你想…

Yes, we will have some costs coming from the underutilization but we also have an increase in the volume from our 20 terabytes sequentially, and that is positive for the gross margin. I also have to say the pricing environment, especially in the mass part is still very favorable. So we don't see -- despite the decline in revenue, we don't see a major impact to our gross margin and profitability in general.

是的，由於利用率不足，我們確實會產生一些成本，但我們的容量也比上一季的20TB有所成長，這對毛利率有利。我還必須說，定價環境，尤其是在大眾市場，仍然非常有利。因此，儘管收入有所下降，但我們預計毛利率和整體獲利能力不會受到重大影響。

Great. As a quick follow-up, I guess, to your last statement, Gianluca, just on the overall pricing environment. Generally speaking, when demand softens and you've got excess inventory in the system, there's typically downward pressure on pricing.

好的。詹盧卡，我想快速跟進您上次的發言，關於整體定價環境。一般來說，當需求疲軟且係統中庫存過剩時，價格通常會面臨下行壓力。

But at the same time, the industry overall has been very disciplined in the past, I guess, several quarters, if not a couple of years, you've got inflationary pressures as well. So I guess you've got an incentive to potentially pass through some of those inflationary pressures. So net-net, how should we think about pricing across the legacy markets and mass capacity over the next couple of quarters? Is there a possibility for you guys to raise pricing? Or is that difficult just given the demand backdrop.

但同時，我認為過去幾個季度，甚至幾年，整個產業都保持著高度自律，也面臨通膨壓力。所以，我認為大家有動力去規避部分通膨壓力。那麼，接下來幾個季度，我們該如何考慮傳統市場和大規模產能的定價？你們有可能提高價格嗎？或者說，考慮到目前的需求背景，這是否很困難？

Well, first of all, we need to align supply and demand. This is not what Dave was saying before, when there is extra inventory in the business. We need to reduce our supply so that demand and supply were aligned. When we have that alignment, of course, the pricing environment gets better.

首先，我們需要協調供需。這與戴夫之前所說的，當業務中存在過剩庫存時，情況並非如此。我們需要減少供應，使供需平衡。當我們實現了這種平衡時，定價環境當然會變得更好。

And so right now, we are in the situation of transition from, let's say, in a high inventory to a more healthy business situation. And then, of course, during the rest of the year when demand comes stronger and well aligned to our supply, we will take any possible action on pricing, but we will look at that later during the year.

所以，目前我們正處於從高庫存過渡到更健康的業務狀況的階段。當然，在今年剩餘時間裡，當需求更加強勁，並與我們的供應更加匹配時，我們會採取任何可能的定價措施，但我們將在今年晚些時候再考慮。

I think this is where the LTAs have served us pretty well over time to understand the -- all of the macroeconomic inputs and like I always say that some of the procurement people that are sitting on the other side of the table from us they understand what's going on in commodity pricing and freight just as well as we do.

我認為長期協議長期以來為我們提供了很好的幫助，讓我們了解所有的宏觀經濟投入，就像我經常說的那樣，坐在我們桌子對面的一些採購人員和我們一樣了解商品定價和運費的情況。

So we work together to come up with a predictable outcome. We believe in the mass capacity markets at least that there's going to be a strong rebound coming. And everyone factoring all these things in, I think it serves us well to know exactly what we're building, what we've qualified, and what will apply. And so that's what we're trying to do right now is to change -- to pivot the operations towards that future supply.

因此，我們共同努力，力求實現可預測的結果。我們相信，至少在大容量市場，未來將出現強勁反彈。考慮到所有這些因素，我認為，我們清楚地了解我們正在建立什麼、我們已獲得哪些認證以及哪些將得到應用，對我們大有裨益。因此，我們現在正在努力改變——將營運重心轉向未來的供應。

Our next question comes from Steven Fox from Fox Advisors.

我們的下一個問題來自 Fox Advisors 的 Steven Fox。

Two questions, please. First of all, Gianluca, any help on what you're thinking for CapEx spending this fiscal year?

請問兩個問題。首先，Gianluca，您能告訴我您對本財政年度的資本支出有什麼想法嗎？

And then secondly, Dave, given that you basically were surprised negatively just a few weeks ago, I'm just trying to understand the biggest factors that make you come out and say that you should start to see a recovery in a couple of quarters.

其次，戴夫，考慮到幾週前你基本上感到很意外，我只是想知道是什麼最大因素讓你說出你應該在幾個季度內開始看到復甦。

You've touched on a few things, but just maybe give us a sense from -- about where that confidence is going at when demand holds up on the data center side, and two, that you're not overbuilding into like what could be even a worse macro.

您已經談到了一些事情，但也許可以讓我們了解一下——當資料中心方面的需求保持穩定時，這種信心會如何發展；其次，您不會過度建設，甚至可能造成更糟糕的宏觀經濟狀況。

On the CapEx side, as you have seen, we have already reduced our spending in fiscal Q4, probably for fiscal year '23, I don't want to change the range. I think 4% to 6% of the revenue is a good range, but for sure, will be in the lower part of the range and similar to what we have done in fiscal '22.

在資本支出方面，如您所見，我們已經在第四財季削減了支出，可能在2023財年也是如此。我不想改變這個範圍。我認為佔收入的4%到6%是一個不錯的範圍，但肯定會處於較低水平，與我們在2022財年的做法類似。

Yes. And I think longer term, discussions with our customers, the bigger the customer there are, the more they're convicted they are on their ultimate need to add capacity because they're the ones that manage cloud storage.

是的。我認為，從長遠來看，與客戶的討論中，客戶規模越大，他們就越堅信最終需要增加容量，因為他們才是雲端儲存的管理者。

Some of the customers that are having -- I mentioned a few people that are smaller CSPs that are having some of the inventory issues, we are working closely with them to make sure that we transition to the right product set. So we don't build the wrong thing into it. And that's a very tactical thing. That's why we have conviction that this thing is going to be over pretty soon. We're all cognizant of all the macro trends and watching them every day.

我提到的一些客戶是規模較小的通訊服務供應商，他們面臨一些庫存問題。我們正在與他們密切合作，確保過渡到正確的產品組合。這樣我們就不會把錯誤的東西塞進去。這非常具有戰術性。這就是為什麼我們堅信疫情很快就會結束。我們每天都在關注宏觀趨勢。

So I don't want to gloss over that. But I think as far as demand for data products, I do think that there's, there will be a rebound coming when all these issues abate.

所以我不想掩蓋這一點。但我認為，就數據產品的需求而言，當所有這些問題消退後，我確實認為會出現反彈。

Our next question comes from Erik Woodring from Morgan Stanley.

我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的艾瑞克‧伍德林。

Maybe Gianluca, any comments you can just share on cash flow thoughts as you move into this next fiscal year after a strong 2022. Should we expect growth maybe similar to your comments on revenue? Or just maybe help us parse out how to think about that. And then I have a quick follow-up.

Gianluca，在經歷了2022年的強勁增長後，您能否就下一個財年，就現金流方面的問題分享一些看法？我們預期的成長幅度是否應該與您對營收的預期類似？或者，能否幫助我們分析如何看待這個問題？然後我有一個簡短的後續問題。

Well, free cash flow, as you said, was good in fiscal '22. We increased about $400 million over fiscal '21. We gave an indication of what we expect for the revenue in fiscal '23. And now if that comes through free cash flow will continue to increase. It would be the same level of this improvement in fiscal '22, maybe even it's a bit higher.

正如您所說，22財年的自由現金流表現良好。比21財年增加了約4億美元。我們之前也提到了23財年的營收預期。如果這些收入能夠轉化為自由現金流，那麼23財年的自由現金流將持續成長。 22財年的增幅應該與2022財年的增幅相同，甚至可能更高。

Yes. We're especially at these times, we'll manage cash very carefully, but we also see if the mass capacity rebound is what we're projecting that we should be able to continue to grow cash flow.

是的。尤其是在這種時候，我們會非常謹慎地管理現金，但我們也會觀察大規模產能反彈是否符合我們的預期，以便我們可以繼續增加現金流。

Okay. Super. And then maybe along those same lines, Gianluca, just obviously, a more challenging macro environment, but any comments you can help us better understand kind of how you're thinking about OpEx is the quarterly run rate is still kind of $350 million or any puts and takes that you can help share there would be great.

好的。太好了。那麼，Gianluca，也許同樣的思路，顯然，這是一個更具挑戰性的宏觀環境，但如果您能幫助我們更好地理解您對營運支出的看法，例如季度運行率仍然在 3.5 億美元左右，或者您能分享任何利弊，那就太好了。

Yes. I think between $350 million and $360 million will be the range through the fiscal year. We have done a strong control of the OpEx in the last 2 or 3 years already. So we think we start from a good point.

是的。我認為整個財年的營運支出將在3.5億到3.6億美元之間。過去兩三年，我們已經對營運支出進行了嚴格的控制。所以我們認為這是一個好的起點。

September is a month where we have our annual salary increase. So we expect a little bit of increase starting basically the December quarter, but still in that range, $350 million to $360 million should be the right range for us.

九月是我們年度加薪的月份。所以我們預計從12月季度開始會有小幅成長，但仍在這個範圍內，3.5億到3.6億美元應該是我們合適的範圍。

And our next question comes from Sidney Ho from Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題來自德意志銀行的 Sidney Ho。

I have a quick clarification. I think Gianluca talked about expecting revenue growth could resume later in the fiscal year, but you're not necessarily meaning the December quarter, which means I guess is that right.

我想簡單澄清一下。 Gianluca 說過預計營收成長可能會在本財年後期恢復，但你指的不一定是 12 月季度，我想是這樣吧。

But my question is, when I look at the inventory adjustments and your customers, whether in the PC or elsewhere, what is your thinking about when they will get to the equilibrium point that your customers stop draining inventory? And what gives you that kind of confidence?

但我的問題是，當我看到庫存調整以及您的客戶（無論是個人電腦還是其他領域）時，您認為他們何時才能達到平衡點，讓客戶停止消耗庫存？是什麼讓您如此有信心？

I would say, in general, no, we are trying to use this quarter to realign inventory. Of course, as you said, it's not -- it doesn't depend on in from us, but we are reducing our production. And now we are taking a fairly low revenue in the quarter in order to do this realignment.

我想說，總的來說，我們正試圖利用這個季度來調整庫存。當然，正如你所說，這不取決於我們自己，但我們正在減少產量。為了進行這種調整，我們本季的營收相當低。

So I'll say after that, we actually expect to increase revenue sequentially. So December should be better than September quarter and not to achieve the revenue that Dave indicated in his prepared remarks, we need to have a fairly good level of revenue in all the 3 quarters after September.

所以我想說，在那之後，我們實際上預期收入會較上季成長。所以12月份的業績應該會比9月季度更好。要達到戴夫在準備好的演講稿中提到的收入目標，我們需要在9月份之後的所有三個季度都保持相當不錯的收入水平。

Okay. Great. Maybe I'll just jump into my second question. There's a lot of questions on cloud already. But I'm curious on the enterprise OEM side of the new line business -- last quarter, you mentioned you were limited by non-HDD supply shortages.

好的。太好了。也許我可以直接回答第二個問題。關於雲的問題已經很多了。但我對新生產線業務的企業OEM方面感到好奇——上個季度，您提到非HDD硬碟供應短缺限制了你們的業務。

I'm just curious -- are you seeing any changes in demand on that side of the business? And does that business also as covered as by the LTA as your cloud customers?

我只是好奇——您是否看到這方面業務的需求有任何變化？這項業務是否也像您的雲端客戶一樣受到LTA的覆蓋？

It's -- yes is the answer to your question, to your last question, it's a little bit more complicated than some of the cloud customers. But what I would say, for example, in our prepared remarks on the systems business, we talked about how we saw a flood of the components that we needed to go chase after revenue and we did that.

是的——這是你最後一個問題的答案，它比一些雲端客戶的情況要複雜一些。但我想說的是，例如，在我們關於系統業務的準備好的評論中，我們談到了我們如何看到大量需要我們去追逐收入的組件，並且我們做到了這一點。

That's because I think some of the supply-demand picture is changing very rapidly. The things that we're constrained components 6 months ago may not be constrained anymore because of a lot of macro issues. It's not completely all clear yet. There are still component shortages that are affecting the enterprise. I think also the spending reductions by -- again, I always say nervous CFOs, which are talking to the CIOs of the world that's, I think, impacting us a little bit right now as well.

這是因為我認為部分供需狀況正在快速改變。由於許多宏觀因素，6個月前我們受到零件供應限制的因素現在可能不再受到限制。目前情況尚不完全明朗。零件短缺問題仍然存在，這正在影響企業。此外，我還認為，支出削減——我再說一遍，我總是說緊張的財務長們，他們正在與世界各地的首席資訊長溝通，我認為這也對我們產生了一些影響。

Look, long term, I believe that on-prem enterprise is going to be healthy because there's going to be hybrid clouds, not just, not just in the public cloud, but also in the private cloud as well. And so I think those will be strong businesses. They still -- there are various challenges there, supply-related still, and I think some of that will start to break free over the next 6 months.

從長遠來看，我相信本地部署企業將會健康發展，因為混合雲不僅會出現在公有雲中，還會出現在私有雲中。所以我認為這些企業將會成長。它們仍然面臨各種挑戰，尤其是與供應相關的挑戰，我認為其中一些挑戰將在未來六個月內開始出現。

Our next question comes from C.J. Muse from Evercore ISI.

我們的下一個問題來自 Evercore ISI 的 C.J. Muse。

I guess two questions. First, you talked on the call about excess inventory in the channel for your various end markets. I was curious if you could rank order perhaps worse to best by end markets so we get a flavor of where things need to correct.

我想問兩個問題。首先，您在電話會議上談到了各終端市場通路庫存過剩的問題。請問您能否依照終端市場狀況從差到好進行排序，以便我們了解哪些方面需要改進。

And then, I guess, specifically for U.S. data centers, you talked in your prepared remarks around a correction there. It sounds like it's a handful of players. Could you provide perhaps more color on what you're seeing there and when you think that will start to recover for you.

然後，我想，具體到美國資料中心，您在準備好的演講中提到了那裡的調整。聽起來像是有幾家公司參與其中。您能否更詳細地介紹一下目前看到的情況，以及您認為何時會開始復甦。

Yes, C.J. let me just make sure I got all this right. So the first 1 was rank order. I think China generally is the biggest impact. There's impact in distribution channels worldwide, consumer and disty. So Europe, Americas, they're both down significantly year-over-year, and that's part of the macro malaise that we've been talking about.

是的，C.J.，讓我確認一下我理解的是否正確。第一個是排名順序。我認為中國總體上受影響最大。全球的分銷管道、消費者和分銷管道都受到了影響。歐洲和美洲的銷售額年比都大幅下降，這也是我們一直在談論的宏觀經濟低迷的一部分。

But China itself has not only that, but also the VIA markets and some of the cloud service providers. There's inventory challenges each place, I think, that we're staring at. working through it with those customers. Some of that is macro, some of it is COVID lockdown. There's kind of just trepidation in the market because some of the lockdowns happen and then they go for reopening, they pull inventory in and then they can't reopen.

但中國本身不僅如此，還有VIA市場和一些雲端服務供應商。我認為，每個地方都面臨庫存挑戰，我們正在與這些客戶共同努力解決這些問題。其中一些是宏觀因素，有些是新冠疫情封鎖的影響。市場有些忐忑不安，因為有些地方封鎖了，然後他們又要重新開放，他們把庫存撤回來，結果卻無法重新開放。

I think the world is going to get through these things. but we just have to kind of wait it out.

我認為世界將會度過這些困難，但我們只需要等待。

Can you answer this or ask the second part of your question again?

你能回答這個問題或再問一次問題的第二部分嗎？

Yes, sure. In your prepared remarks, you spoke to what I thought I heard was inventory collection at select hyperscale plans. And so I guess, did I hear that correctly? And then if you could provide more color on your expectations for that to be cleared out.

是的，當然。在您準備好的發言中，您提到了我認為我聽到的是部分超大規模計劃的庫存收集。所以我猜我沒聽錯吧？然後，您能否更詳細地說明您的預期，以便澄清這一點？

I don't think there's too much inventory problems at U.S. hyperscalers. I think everyone's having supply challenges, not necessarily hard drives or whatever.

我不認為美國超大規模資料中心有太多庫存問題。我認為每個人都面臨供應挑戰，不一定是硬碟之類的問題。

There's -- maybe the way I would characterize it is to say that there is pent-up demand for data storage in a lot of markets. And once the world gets through all of these supply challenges, whether they're power supplies or chassis or compute or memory or whatever it is for each 1 individual, I think we'll be in a better place.

或許我會這樣描述：很多市場對資料儲存的需求都被壓抑了。一旦世界克服了所有這些供應挑戰，無論是電源、機箱、計算、內存，還是其他任何針對個人的供應，我認為我們都會處於一個更好的境地。

People are working this very hard, and everyone's got their own challenges. But I think we're -- that's the thing that the world is just not firing on all cylinders like it was maybe 3 or 4 years ago, and I think we will be able to get back to reach some kind of equilibrium over time.

人們都在努力工作，每個人都面臨著各自的挑戰。但我認為──這就是為什麼世界不再像三、四年前那樣全速運轉的原因，我相信隨著時間的推移，我們能夠恢復到某種平衡。

Our next question comes from Thomas O'Malley from Barclays.

下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的托馬斯·奧馬利。

My question was just on the long-term agreements that you guys talked about on the call here. When Micron took down numbers, they were asked specifically about whether those long-term agreements were take or pay.

我的問題是關於你們在電話會議上談到的長期協議。美光公司在記錄數字時，被特別問到這些長期協議是否是「照付不議」的。

And they kind of talked about the fact that they can't really force customers to take their product. What gives you guys the confidence that when you're looking at the back half of this year, your customers aren't going to walk away from those long-term agreements if the market looks a little bit worse than it does today.

他們好像提到了他們無法強迫客戶購買他們的產品。是什麼讓你們有信心，展望今年下半年，即使市場情況比現在更糟，你們的客戶也不會放棄那些長期協議？

Yes. Thanks, Tom. I kind of agree with what you said. We have to work with our customers on these things. I said -- I think last quarter, I talked about co-planning more. It's just how many units do you need, what kind of products need to be qualified and it has to go out further because as we're making 20-plus terabyte products, or even starting 30-plus terabyte products, we need to know exactly how many of the customers are willing to take and how much to use our factory, use inside of our factories.

是的，謝謝，湯姆。我有點同意你的說法。我們必須與客戶就這些事情展開合作。我說過－我記得上個季度我討論過更多共同規劃的問題。關鍵在於你需要多少台設備，哪些產品需要合格認證，以及產品必須進一步推廣。因為當我們生產20多TB的產品，甚至開始生產30多TB的產品時，我們需要確切地知道有多少客戶願意接受，以及有多少產品會使用我們的工廠，在我們的工廠內部使用。

If something else happened, then I think we'd have to work it through with the customers at the time. So it's not really take-or-pay. And from my perspective, the customers have been great working through that, just trying to give us the right visibility, and we hold each other accountable on both sides of the table there, it's working pretty well.

如果發生其他情況，我認為我們必須當時與客戶協商解決。所以這其實不是「照付不議」的。從我的角度來看，客戶們一直非常樂意處理此事，他們只是試圖讓我們了解情況，雙方也互相監督，目前進展良好。

Great. And then just my follow-up is, even if you do assume some accelerated growth in the back half. Obviously, the inventory is working down, so that helps a bit. Free cash flow does become a bit challenged. If you were to look at an environment in which free cash flow from a quarterly perspective goes negative, could you just talk about your rank order of capital returns, do you think that you would buy back less stock first? Or do you think that you would rationalize the dividend?

好的。接下來我想問的是，即使您假設下半年會有一些加速成長，庫存顯然也在下降，這多少會有所幫助。自由現金流確實會面臨一些挑戰。如果您考慮一個季度自由現金流為負的環境，能否談談您的資本報酬率排序？您認為您會先減少股票回購嗎？還是會合理化股利？

Can you just talk about priorities there in terms of where you'd be cutting first if the environment kind of persists like it is?

如果環境狀況持續如此，您能否談談優先考慮的事項，即首先削減哪些開支？

So I don't see that coming through. I don't see any quarter where our free cash flow will go negative. So -- and we have a capital allocation strategy. As I said before, we want to stay focused on shareholder return. I think our free cash flow will be strong in fiscal year '23, I don't see now the situation you are showing here.

所以我認為這種情況不會發生。我不認為我們的自由現金流在任何一個季度都會變成負數。所以——我們有資本配置策略。正如我之前所說，我們希望繼續專注於股東回報。我認為我們的自由現金流在2023財年會保持強勁，但目前我看不到您目前所看到的情況。

Yes. The way I'd say it, Tom, is that we're going to go work the cash flow. We had some period very specific things that Gianluca talked about in Q4. I think we can go recover some of those things over time. And some of it's too much inventory, like I said, before making sure we're building the right things.

是的。湯姆，我想說的是，我們要關注現金流。詹盧卡在第四季度談到了一些特定時期的問題。我認為我們可以逐步解決其中一些問題。就像我說的，庫存過剩也是問題之一，我們需要先確保生產的產品是正確的。

I think once we get through that period, I think we're going to be just fine from a cash flow perspective and even have the opportunity to grow it year-over-year. We have a lot of levers that we can still continue to control.

我認為，一旦我們度過這段時期，從現金流的角度來看，我們的現金流將會很好，甚至有機會逐年成長。我們還有很多可以繼續掌控的槓桿。

And our next question comes from K. Cassidy from Rosenblatt Securities.

我們的下一個問題來自羅森布拉特證券公司的 K. Cassidy。

Yes, just two quick questions. With all the long-term agreements you have in place, what are the lead times? Or what is the visibility that you're getting from your customers?

是的，就兩個簡單的問題。你們簽訂了這麼多長期協議，交付週期是多久？或者說，你們從客戶那裡獲得的透明度如何？

And second is, are you seeing any change in the trends of lockdowns in China?

第二，您是否看到中國封鎖趨勢有任何變化？

Yes. Thanks, Kevin. There's different kinds of LTAs depending on the market, depending on which specific customer and their appetite, typically 6 months to a year, the visibility that we're working together. So -- and it's over the last few years, it's gotten longer. So that's good.

是的。謝謝，凱文。根據市場、具體客戶及其需求，長期協議的類型也有所不同，通常為6個月到1年，取決於我們合作的可見性。所以——過去幾年，協議的期限變得更長了。這很好。

Just making sure we have the right product stage for what they're going to need at that point in time with predictable economics for them and so on. And as relative to China, I think I made a comment earlier, even our own factories have been impacted recently.

只是要確保我們擁有適合他們當時需求的產品階段，並且為他們提供可預測的經濟效益等等。至於中國，我想我之前提到過，就連我們自己的工廠最近也受到了影響。

So making sure that we're doing the right things for the employees not working them in places where we don't need the materials and things like that is a challenge. I personally think that things are already getting better. But I also think part of the problem is that the -- we've said that 3 or 4, 5x and people have pulled inventory against a reopening, if you will.

因此，確保我們為員工做好事，不讓他們在我們不需要材料之類的地方工作，這是一個挑戰。我個人認為情況已經在好轉了。但我也認為問題的一部分在於──我們已經說過，有3、4、5倍的人為了避免重新開業而撤走了庫存。

It's not even so many matter of what you're capable of in your factory. It's also what your customers are ready for and whether you can get to -- just like in the front end of code, whether you can get people in to build the data centers and all these other things that are going on.

這甚至不僅僅是關乎你的工廠能做什麼，還關乎你的客戶準備好了什麼，以及你是否能夠——就像在程式碼前端一樣，你是否能找到人來建立資料中心以及所有其他正在進行的事情。

The thing I'm focused on the most is the small business aspect of talking to some of our customers about people who have to actually go in and do the builds in the smart city builds, the smart buildings, hospitals, things like that. That's where any kind of lockdown just really throws that for a loop.

我最關注的是小型企業方面，我們會和一些客戶溝通，了解那些必須實際參與智慧城市建設、智慧建築、醫院等專案建設的人。任何形式的封鎖都會讓這些企業陷入困境。

And I do think that we're going to continue to see some of it, it will be a little bit. And then we're all looking for improvements in Q2, and it's going to have to break free at some point.

我確實認為我們會繼續看到一些這樣的情況，會有一些。我們都期待第二季度有所改善，這種情況最終會有所改善。

And our final question today comes from Vijay Rakesh from Mizuho.

今天的最後一個問題來自瑞穗的 Vijay Rakesh。

Dave and Gianluca, I know you guys mentioned slightly higher inventory levels. Just wondering if you could help us level set what the inventory levels were, let's say, in China versus or in Asia versus the U.S.?

Dave 和 Gianluca，我知道你們提到庫存水準略高。請問您能否幫我們確定一下，比如說，中國與亞洲與美國的庫存水準如何？

And is your expectation that the inventory normalizes within the quarter here? Because I think you've talked about maybe December quarter revenues start to improve.

您預計庫存在本季內會恢復正常嗎？因為我認為您提到過，12月季度的收入可能會開始改善。

Right. We're taking action to make sure it improves this quarter. Gianluca made the point earlier that I don't think it will improve all the way, but we'll get the lion's share of what we need to get done this quarter.

是的。我們正在採取行動，確保本季情況有所改善。詹盧卡之前說過，我認為情況不會完全改善，但我們會完成本季需要完成的大部分工作。

And again, depending on the pace of some of these recoveries like COVID and some of the other pressures that people are feeling, it will happen faster. And the important thing for us is that we make sure that we pivot the customer qualifications and our product towards the stuff that's more modern, that's higher margins for us that we can make with -- that we can make that people actually want to buy that we don't have to go disrupt the market anymore.

再說一次，根據疫情等經濟復甦的速度，以及人們感受到的其他壓力，這種情況可能會更快發生。對我們來說，重要的是確保客戶資格和產品轉向更現代化、利潤更高的產品，這樣我們才能創造更高的利潤——讓人們真正想買，這樣我們就不必再擾亂市場了。

Got it. And I think you mentioned utilization levels. I mean, I believe you indicated when the gross margins should be flat sequentially. Is that right, given that utilization still stay high with the 20-terabyte ramping, I guess, right? Even as your thoughts on the supply back. Is that the way to look at it?

明白了。我記得你提到了利用率水準。我的意思是，我相信你指出了毛利率應該在什麼時候環比持平。考慮到20TB的容量成長，利用率仍然保持高位，是這樣嗎？即使你認為供應量有回落，你也是這樣看待這個問題的嗎？

Well, we did not guide [directly] in gross margin, but I was answering to a question, I said, well, there is a negative impact in the September quarter because of some underutilization cost, but is also a positive impact coming from higher 20 terabytes. And I also said the pricing environment is also still favorable. So overall, we don't see major changes to our profitability.

嗯，我們沒有直接公佈毛利率，但我當時回答了一個問題，我說，由於一些未充分利用的成本，9月份季度會產生負面影響，但20TB容量的提升也會帶來正面影響。我還提到，定價環境仍然有利。因此，整體而言，我們的獲利能力不會發生重大變化。

And ladies and gentlemen, at this time, I'd like to turn the floor back over to management for any closing remarks.

女士們、先生們，現在，我想把發言權交還給管理階層，請他們做最後發言。

Thanks, Jamie. I'd like to take the opportunity to once again thank our employees for their incredible efforts and recognize our suppliers and customers for their ongoing support this quarter.

謝謝，傑米。我想藉此機會再次感謝我們員工的辛勤付出，並感謝我們的供應商和客戶在本季度給予的持續支持。

It's a challenging environment across the ecosystem, and we appreciate all of your partnerships. Likewise, I appreciate our shareholder community for your ongoing trust in Seagate.

整個生態系統都充滿挑戰，我們感謝所有合作夥伴。同樣，我也感謝股東們對希捷的持續信任。

Seagate will continue to take actions to manage through the current macro dynamics. However, long term, I'm confident that the secular demand for mass capacity storage and infrastructure remains high and remain excited by Seagate's opportunities to deliver value for all the stakeholders. So thanks for joining us, everyone.

希捷將繼續採取行動應對當前的宏觀經濟情勢。但從長遠來看，我相信市場對大容量儲存和基礎設施的長期需求仍然旺盛，我對希捷為所有利害關係人創造價值的機會充滿期待。感謝各位的參與。

And ladies and gentlemen, with that, we'll conclude today's conference call. We do thank you for joining. You may now disconnect your lines.

女士們，先生們，今天的電話會議就到此結束。非常感謝各位的參與。現在您可以掛斷電話了。