Vizio Holding Corp (VZIO) 2021 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us for our fourth quarter 2021 earnings call. Joining me for today's discussion are William Wang, our Founder and CEO; and Adam Townsend, our CFO. Also joining us for the Q&A portion of today's call is Michael O'Donnell, our Chief Revenue and Strategic Growth Officer.

大家下午好，感謝您加入我們的 2021 年第四季度財報電話會議。和我一起參加今天討論的還有我們的創始人兼首席執行官 William Wang；和我們的首席財務官 Adam Townsend。我們的首席收入和戰略增長官 Michael O'Donnell 也加入了我們今天電話會議的問答部分。

Please note that in addition to our earnings release, a slide presentation can be found on our Investor Relations website at investors.vizio.com. I'll refer you to the second slide in the presentation and remind you that certain statements made on this call are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those forward-looking statements are discussed in more detail in our filings with the SEC and our press release that was issued this afternoon.

請注意，除了我們的收益發布之外，還可以在我們的投資者關係網站investors.vizio.com 上找到幻燈片演示。我將向您介紹演示文稿中的第二張幻燈片，並提醒您本次電話會議上的某些陳述是涉及風險和不確定性的前瞻性陳述。這些可能導致實際結果與這些前瞻性陳述產生重大差異的風險和不確定性在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的文件和我們今天下午發布的新聞稿中進行了更詳細的討論。

We undertake no obligation to revise any statements to reflect changes that occur after this call. During the call, we also refer to non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted EBITDA. Reconciliations with the most comparable GAAP measures for non-GAAP financial information discussed on this call can be found in our earnings release or in the Investors Section of our website. Note that all quarterly comparisons in today's remarks will be made on a year-over-year basis unless otherwise specified.

我們不承擔修改任何聲明以反映本次電話會議後發生的變化的義務。在電話會議中，我們還提到了非 GAAP 財務指標，包括調整後的 EBITDA。在本次電話會議上討論的非 GAAP 財務信息與最具可比性的 GAAP 措施的對賬可以在我們的收益發布或我們網站的投資者部分中找到。請注意，除非另有說明，否則今天評論中的所有季度比較都將按年進行。

Now I will turn the call over to William.

現在我將把電話轉給威廉。

Thanks, Michael, and hello, everyone. Thank you for joining us today. This is the first time we get to the staff a year together. I'd like to take a few minutes to talk about some highlights on 2021 and then Adam will give more details on Q4 and full year results.

謝謝，邁克爾，大家好。感謝您今天加入我們。這是我們一年來第一次和員工在一起。我想花幾分鐘談談 2021 年的一些亮點，然後亞當將提供有關第四季度和全年業績的更多細節。

2021 was a transformational year for VIZIO. Our IPO was almost 1 year ago. And since then, we have continued to see success in the execution of our combined hardware and software strategy. We invest in talent and doubled employees from 400 to more than 800 employees, mostly in product and engineering expertise to accelerate innovations for our integrated hardware and software business. While we're continuing to sell millions of connected devices to Americans, we also packed a lot of new programming functionality into every TV to improve the experiences for our new and existing customers.

2021 年是 VIZIO 轉型的一年。我們的首次公開募股幾乎是一年前。從那時起，我們在執行我們的硬件和軟件組合戰略方面繼續取得成功。我們投資於人才，員工人數從 400 人增加到 800 多人，主要是在產品和工程專業知識方面，以加速我們集成硬件和軟件業務的創新。在我們繼續向美國人銷售數百萬台聯網設備的同時，我們還在每台電視中加入了許多新的編程功能，以改善我們新老客戶的體驗。

And we've grown a national sales organization that has strengthened our dual revenue business model. We accomplished all of this growth and innovation while maintaining a strong balance sheet and positive cash flow. Now that is not easy. Such achievement requires a tremendous amount of discipline and expertise.

我們發展了一個全國性的銷售組織，加強了我們的雙重收入業務模式。我們實現了所有這些增長和創新，同時保持了強勁的資產負債表和正現金流。現在這並不容易。這樣的成就需要大量的紀律和專業知識。

I want to thank our team for making this happen year after year. This year marks VIZIO's 20th anniversary. We're continuing our history of delivering quality products and incredible value to customers. It is also our sixth year of owning both the hardware and software experiences and perfecting the relationship between the 2.

我要感謝我們的團隊年復一年地做到了這一點。今年是 VIZIO 成立 20 週年。我們將繼續我們為客戶提供優質產品和令人難以置信的價值的歷史。這也是我們擁有硬件和軟件體驗並完善兩者關係的第六個年頭。

The value consumers give when they buy our products, has never been greater. And I'm happy to say that we have maintained our market share position for full year 2021 as the top 3 Smart TV brand and the #1 selling Sound Bar brands in the U.S. Going to the holiday season, we focused on promotional efforts on the big screen and high-end products that drive greater engagement and ARPU. Our strategy was paid off with strong shipments for TVs in the 50-inch and above class.

消費者在購買我們的產品時給予的價值從未像現在這樣大。我很高興地說，我們在 2021 年全年保持了我們作為智能電視品牌前 3 名和美國銷量第一的 Sound Bar 品牌的市場份額。推動更高參與度和 ARPU 的大屏幕和高端產品。我們的策略得到了回報，50 英寸及以上級別的電視出貨量強勁。

The deals we leveled have normalized. We are executing on aggressive pricing strategies to increase demand and enhance our market position and our products remain highly competitive in both quality and value. The combination of our total revenue business model and healthy inventory dynamics, puts us in the position of competitor trends heading into 2022 and we intend to continue to leverage that strength and implement additional pricing tactics as we push to increase market share.

我們達成的交易已經正常化。我們正在執行激進的定價策略，以增加需求並提高我們的市場地位，我們的產品在質量和價值方面保持高度競爭力。我們的總收入業務模式和健康的庫存動態相結合，使我們處於進入 2022 年的競爭對手趨勢的位置，我們打算繼續利用這一優勢並實施額外的定價策略，以增加市場份額。

We are excited to launch a new collection of devices (inaudible) this week and will start hitting shelves in the spring. And our new collection is a really earning awards. VIZIO was named a CES Innovation Award Winner by the Consumer Technology Association for the new products, including our M-Series Quantum X 4K HDR Gaming Smart TV, which delivers the highest frame rate available on a picture-perfect 50-inch screen for fast action play.

我們很高興本週推出一系列新設備（聽不清），並將在春季開始上架。而我們的新系列是一個真正的獲獎。 VIZIO 的新產品被消費者技術協會評為 CES 創新獎得主，其中包括我們的 M 系列 Quantum X 4K HDR 遊戲智能電視，它可在 50 英寸完美畫面的屏幕上提供最高幀速率，以實現快速動作玩。

The VIZIO M-Series elevates 5.1.2 Sound Bar, which is a speaker, more affordable elevated Sound Bar, featuring patented award-winning audio technology and the latest version of our operating system, SmartCast was recognized for improved user experience with new voice capabilities and the updated program guide.

VIZIO M 系列提升了 5.1.2 條形音箱，這是一款揚聲器，價格更實惠的提升條形音箱，採用屢獲殊榮的專利音頻技術和我們最新版本的操作系統，SmartCast 以通過新的語音功能改善用戶體驗而獲得認可和更新的節目指南。

Award-winning product added great value to our VIZIO (inaudible). We have also improved our WatchFree+ service with addition of over 5,000 hours of premium top content partners such as Disney, Lionsgate, Sony Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn. And we continue to expand our free and premium ad-supported content options.

屢獲殊榮的產品為我們的 VIZIO（聽不清）增加了巨大的價值。我們還改進了 WatchFree+ 服務，增加了超過 5,000 小時的優質頂級內容合作夥伴，例如迪士尼、獅門影業、索尼影業和塞繆爾·戈德溫。我們將繼續擴展免費和優質的廣告支持內容選項。

WatchFree+ is the second-most watched ad-supported app on the SmartCast platform. Nearly 50% of our SmartCast users are watching WatchFree+. Our data-driven features, channels are fast-becoming favorites, and we recently added even more big-name apps like discovery+, Sling TV and the collection of apps from A+E networks.

WatchFree+ 是 SmartCast 平台上觀看次數第二多的廣告支持應用程序。我們近 50% 的 SmartCast 用戶正在觀看 WatchFree+。我們的數據驅動功能、頻道正迅速成為最受歡迎的功能，我們最近添加了更多知名應用，如發現+、Sling TV 以及來自 A+E 網絡的應用集合。

So while stream content consumption continued to grow and the streaming wars heat up, VIZIO provides a front-row seat and content for everyone. Q4 was another quarter of record ARPU growth, which continues to exceed even my expectations. The VIZIO ad business had a tremendous 2021 and is not a key part of the ad ecosystem in the U.S.

因此，在流媒體內容消費持續增長和流媒體戰爭升溫的同時，VIZIO 為每個人提供了前排座位和內容。第四季度是創紀錄的 ARPU 增長的又一個季度，甚至超出了我的預期。 VIZIO 廣告業務在 2021 年表現出色，並不是美國廣告生態系統的關鍵部分。

We significantly grew our relationships with agency customers, and grew revenue from key ad categories, including insurance, retail and auto. We expanded our offerings and relationships with media and entertainment companies that need VIZIO to help drive subscriptions and tune in.

我們顯著加強了與代理客戶的關係，並增加了來自保險、零售和汽車等關鍵廣告類別的收入。我們擴大了與需要 VIZIO 幫助推動訂閱和收聽的媒體和娛樂公司的產品和關係。

As people move to streaming, brands need to find those audiences, and we are able to deliver them. And with our TVs as anchored for brand experiences and Viewing Data, we are building our Household Connect, which allow us to sell ad experiences across other devices.

隨著人們轉向流媒體，品牌需要找到這些受眾，而我們能夠提供這些受眾。通過我們的電視作為品牌體驗和觀看數據的錨點，我們正在構建我們的家庭連接，這使我們能夠在其他設備上銷售廣告體驗。

We are also finding more opportunities for advertising to be part of the experience and introducing new kinds by advertising units and sponsorship opportunities. This creates more inventory for us to manage and better revenue optimization of our platform.

我們也在尋找更多的機會讓廣告成為體驗的一部分，並通過廣告單位和讚助機會引入新的種類。這為我們創造了更多的庫存來管理和更好地優化我們平台的收入。

A key differentiator for VIZIO is our data. Years ago, before streaming became a household word, we made the investment to develop the best source of opt-in glass-level ACR data in the market, and the benefits of our data go beyond the enhancement to richer content experience on our own swings.

VIZIO 的一個關鍵差異化因素是我們的數據。多年前，在流媒體成為家喻戶曉的詞之前，我們投資開發了市場上最好的可選玻璃級 ACR 數據來源，我們數據的好處不僅僅是增強我們自己的內容體驗更豐富.

Granular TV viewing data is increasingly important to the $70 billion plus linear TV industry. And VIZIO's 7 years of experience in producing market-leading opt-in glass-level data (inaudible) revolution. 5 out of the 7 leading TV management companies are powered by VIZIO Viewing Data. When combined with streaming data, VIZIO Viewing Data supports more effective advertising investments and strengthen the historically-challenged TV measurement space.

對於價值超過 700 億美元的線性電視行業，精細的電視觀看數據變得越來越重要。以及 VIZIO 在生產市場領先的可選玻璃級數據（聽不清）革命方面的 7 年經驗。 7 家領先的電視管理公司中有 5 家由 VIZIO 觀看數據提供支持。與流媒體數據相結合時，VIZIO 觀看數據支持更有效的廣告投資，並加強歷來具有挑戰性的電視測量空間。

And I'm excited for the future of additional data monetization opportunities for our shareholders. In 2022, as our team celebrates VIZIO's 20th year in the TV market, we are seeing the investments in a dual revenue stream and the strategic integration of hardware and software pay-off. We expect to experience expertise and the discipline that help us build a great company to propel us forward and to drive growth and the maintenance of a healthy balance sheet.

我對未來為我們的股東提供更多數據貨幣化機會感到興奮。 2022 年，隨著我們的團隊慶祝 VIZIO 在電視市場成立 20 週年，我們看到了對雙收入來源的投資以及硬件和軟件的戰略整合帶來的回報。我們希望體驗專業知識和紀律，幫助我們建立一家偉大的公司，推動我們前進，推動增長和維持健康的資產負債表。

We have lots of happy consumers that use our products at home and lots of heavy partners that can use our data and advertising to grow their businesses. And as we head into our second year as a publicly traded company, we look forward to the next 20 years of delivering quality and value to consumers.

我們有很多快樂的消費者在家中使用我們的產品，還有很多重要的合作夥伴可以使用我們的數據和廣告來發展他們的業務。隨著我們進入上市公司的第二個年頭，我們期待在接下來的 20 年里為消費者提供質量和價值。

With that, I will now turn the call over to Adam to speak to our fourth quarter 2021 results in more detail. Thank you.

有了這個，我現在將把電話轉給亞當，更詳細地談談我們 2021 年第四季度的業績。謝謝你。

Thanks, William. I'll focus my comments today on the fourth quarter performance and then discuss our outlook for Q1. Full year 2021 results are available in our earnings release and the investor presentation on our IR website. Fourth quarter total company revenue came in at $629 million. This total represents the blend of our dual revenue model, where Platform Plus revenue grew by 74% to $105 million, while Device revenue of $524 million faced headwinds from logistical latencies and elevated product demand comparisons to Q4 2020.

謝謝，威廉。我今天將把我的評論集中在第四季度的表現上，然後討論我們對第一季度的展望。 2021 年全年業績可在我們的收益發布和投資者關係網站上的投資者介紹中獲得。第四季度公司總收入為 6.29 億美元。這一總額代表了我們雙重收入模式的混合，其中 Platform Plus 收入增長了 74% 至 1.05 億美元，而 5.24 億美元的設備收入面臨物流延遲和與 2020 年第四季度相比產品需求增加的不利因素。

Our growth in Platform Plus revenue was driven by advertising, which grew again by triple digits, up 111% to $82 million. Advertising revenue consists of video impressions both on and off device and our powerful home screen units. During the quarter, we unlocked even more monetizable home screen inventory to sell to advertisers by adding category page hero banners and additional sponsorship opportunities.

我們的 Platform Plus 收入增長是由廣告推動的，廣告再次增長了三位數，增長了 111% 至 8200 萬美元。廣告收入包括設備內外的視頻展示次數以及我們強大的主屏幕單元。在本季度，我們通過添加類別頁面英雄橫幅和額外的讚助機會，解鎖了更多可獲利的主屏幕庫存，以出售給廣告商。

Demand remains very strong across video and home screen, as we continue to expand our relationships with ad buyers and become more known in the marketplace. During the quarter, we experienced strong growth across numerous ad categories, including insurance, retail, automotive and media and entertainment.

隨著我們繼續擴大與廣告買家的關係並在市場上變得更加知名，視頻和主屏幕的需求仍然非常強勁。在本季度，我們在保險、零售、汽車以及媒體和娛樂等眾多廣告類別中實現了強勁增長。

Our industry-leading opted-in first-party viewing data remains a strong point for advertisers who are increasingly looking for better performance with their spend. In fact, around half of all ads we run are now targeted based on our first-party viewing data. And the only way for advertisers to use this capability with guaranteed ad delivery is to work directly with our ad sales team.

對於越來越多地尋求更好的支出效果的廣告商來說，我們行業領先的選擇加入的第一方觀看數據仍然是一個強項。事實上，現在我們投放的所有廣告中約有一半是根據我們的第一方觀看數據定位的。廣告商使用此功能並保證廣告投放的唯一方法是直接與我們的廣告銷售團隊合作。

Further, our data is fueling the rapid growth of our key-off device product, Household Connect. This product is expanding our TAM beyond our device installed base and bringing new buyers into our ecosystem as they seek impactful performance-based ad solutions on digital inventory across devices, including mobile.

此外，我們的數據正在推動我們的關鍵設備產品 Household Connect 的快速增長。該產品正在將我們的 TAM 擴展到我們的設備安裝基礎之外，並將新買家帶入我們的生態系統，因為他們正在跨設備（包括移動設備）尋求基於效果的有效廣告解決方案。

For the quarter, advertising revenue represented 78% of total Platform Plus revenue. Non-advertising revenue, which today primarily includes data licensing, branded buttons on our remote controls and content distribution fees grew 7%. The growth rate in our non-advertising revenue is now -- has now improved in each of the past 3 quarters following the strategic shift in our data licensing model late last year. We expect this growth trajectory to continue in 2022, as our pipeline for new data deals is strong, and we have several existing deals coming up for renewal.

本季度，廣告收入佔 Platform Plus 總收入的 78%。非廣告收入（今天主要包括數據許可、我們遙控器上的品牌按鈕和內容分發費用）增長了 7%。在去年底我們的數據許可模式進行戰略轉變之後，我們的非廣告收入的增長率現在在過去三個季度中的每個季度都有所改善。我們預計這一增長軌跡將在 2022 年繼續，因為我們的新數據交易渠道強勁，並且我們有幾筆現有交易即將續訂。

For device, Q4 Smart TV shipments totaled 1.5 million, marking 2 consecutive quarters of sequential growth following the second quarter low. As I'm sure you've heard from many companies, market conditions remained challenging during the quarter, and our team worked diligently to improve channel inventories, which have been light coming into the quarter.

終端方面，第四季度智能電視出貨量為 150 萬台，繼第二季度低點後連續兩個季度實現環比增長。正如我相信您從許多公司那裡聽到的那樣，本季度市場狀況仍然充滿挑戰，我們的團隊努力改善渠道庫存，進入本季度以來一直很清淡。

As William mentioned, their work throughout the quarter put us in a much stronger position coming into Q1, which will now allow us to be more aggressive and increase our competitiveness going forward. In the past month, we have deployed aggressive promotion pricing on key TV models that we know over index in terms of engagement levels and ARPU opportunities.

正如威廉所說，他們在整個季度的工作使我們在第一季度處於更有利的位置，這將使我們現在更加積極進取並提高我們未來的競爭力。在過去的一個月裡，我們在參與度和 ARPU 機會方面我們知道的主要電視型號採用了激進的促銷定價。

To that end, we lowered the price on our 50-inch V-Series units to $299 in early February and has been the #1 selling 50-inch TV in the country for the past 2 weeks. Of course, aggressive promotions like this have an impact on gross profit margins. As indicated last quarter, we view our rapidly growing high gross profit margin Platform Plus business as a strategic enabler to lowering margins in TV to drive customer acquisition.

為此，我們在 2 月初將 50 英寸 V 系列設備的價格降低至 299 美元，並且在過去兩週內一直是該國 50 英寸電視銷量第一。當然，像這樣激進的促銷活動會對毛利率產生影響。如上一季度所述，我們將快速增長的高毛利率 Platform Plus 業務視為降低電視利潤率以推動客戶獲取的戰略推動力。

For the quarter, total company gross profit was $77 million, with Platform Plus gross profit of $67 million or about 87% of the total and Device gross profit of $10 million. Platform Plus gross profit dollars grew 39% year-over-year. Total company adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $17 million, which was well ahead of our expected range.

本季度，公司總毛利為 7700 萬美元，Platform Plus 毛利為 6700 萬美元，約佔總毛利的 87%，Device 毛利為 1000 萬美元。 Platform Plus 毛利潤美元同比增長 39%。本季度公司調整後的 EBITDA 總額為 1700 萬美元，遠高於我們的預期範圍。

And finally, net income was a loss of $10 million or $0.05 per share, impacted by stock-based comp expense as well as higher R&D and SG&A costs, as we continue to ramp up investment in software development and overall engineering capabilities in particular.

最後，由於我們繼續加大對軟件開發和整體工程能力的投資，受基於股票的補償費用以及更高的研發和 SG&A 成本的影響，淨收入損失了 1000 萬美元或每股 0.05 美元。

Turning now to our key operating metrics. Our Q4 results highlight the growing success we are experiencing in driving overall monetization. ARPU grew to a record $21.68, up 67% over the year ago period. Our ARPU is benefiting from numerous factors, including, as I mentioned earlier, greater awareness of VIZIO in the marketplace, which translates into expanded overall demand and more targeted campaigns, which deliver higher CPMs as well as our continued enhancements to WatchFree+ that are driving improved monetization.

現在轉向我們的關鍵運營指標。我們的第四季度業績突出了我們在推動整體貨幣化方面所取得的日益成功。 ARPU 增長到創紀錄的 21.68 美元，比去年同期增長 67%。我們的 ARPU 受益於許多因素，包括，正如我之前提到的，市場上對 VIZIO 的更高認識，這轉化為擴大的整體需求和更有針對性的活動，從而提供更高的每千次展示費用以及我們對 WatchFree+ 的持續增強，從而推動改進貨幣化。

On a year-over-year basis, total VIZIO hours grew 20% to $7.9 billion, and SmartCast hours grew 11% to $3.9 billion. While SmartCast hours per user are still down year-over-year as we lap the dynamics of 2020, we did see a return of sequential growth in Q4 in absolute terms.

與去年同期相比，VIZIO 總小時數增長 20% 至 79 億美元，SmartCast 小時數增長 11% 至 39 億美元。儘管隨著 2020 年的動態變化，每位用戶的 SmartCast 小時數仍同比下降，但我們確實看到了第四季度絕對值環比增長的回歸。

So far in Q1, we are seeing further strength in engagement trends. For example, in January, SmartCast hours per active account were up nearly 10% from the average during the fourth quarter, which already tends to be a seasonally strong period. This is a particularly encouraging stat on the heels of a number of recent enhancements we've made to the platform, including additional content, features like video on demand, better search results for apps and much more.

到目前為止，在第一季度，我們看到參與趨勢進一步增強。例如，1 月份，每個活躍賬戶的 SmartCast 小時數比第四季度的平均值增加了近 10%，這已經是一個季節性強勁的時期。這是繼我們最近對該平台進行的多項改進之後的一個特別令人鼓舞的統計數據，包括附加內容、視頻點播等功能、更好的應用搜索結果等等。

Our active account base also continued to show solid growth with a 24% increase in 30-day active accounts, ending the quarter at 15.1 million. Let me now turn to what we expect for the first quarter. Starting with Platform Plus, we are realizing the benefits of our strategic planning and actions this past year and the trends we are seeing thus far indicate another strong growth year ahead.

我們的活躍賬戶基數也繼續穩健增長，30 天活躍賬戶增長 24%，本季度末達到 1510 萬。現在讓我談談我們對第一季度的預期。從 Platform Plus 開始，我們在過去一年中意識到我們的戰略規劃和行動的好處，而我們迄今為止看到的趨勢表明未來一年又是一個強勁的增長。

We see continued strength in demand for our advertising inventory and expanding growth opportunities in our largest non-advertising revenue source, data licensing. The market is hungry for our data, and we are in a great position to serve. Taken together, we expect Q1 Platform Plus revenue in the range of $90 million to $95 million.

我們看到對我們的廣告庫存的需求持續強勁，並且我們最大的非廣告收入來源數據許可的增長機會不斷擴大。市場渴望我們的數據，而我們處於有利地位。綜上所述，我們預計第一季度 Platform Plus 的收入在 9000 萬美元至 9500 萬美元之間。

We expect Platform Plus gross profit in the range of $57 million to $60 million, implying a margin of 63% at the midpoint of the range, steady with Q4 levels. For Device, we expect to benefit from our improved inventory position across sales channels.

我們預計 Platform Plus 毛利潤在 5700 萬美元至 6000 萬美元之間，這意味著該範圍的中點利潤率為 63%，與第四季度的水平持平。對於 Device，我們預計將受益於我們在整個銷售渠道中改善的庫存狀況。

As we all know, certain dynamics in the market are still somewhat uncertain, but we believe we have the right products and the right strategies to increase our competitiveness. We are working closely with our retail partners on promotions and merchandising tactics to move units, being particularly aggressive early in the year.

眾所周知，市場的某些動態仍然有些不確定，但我們相信我們擁有正確的產品和正確的策略來提高我們的競爭力。我們正在與我們的零售合作夥伴密切合作，在促銷和銷售策略上移動單位，尤其是在今年年初。

We are also working closely with our ODM suppliers to secure volume commitments at competitive pricing. Lastly, we expect total company adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of a loss of $2 million to a gain of $2 million. In summary, 2021 was a pivotal year for VIZIO. From the strategies we deploy to the investments we made in people, systems and products, we believe we are only scratching the surface of the opportunity that lies ahead.

我們還與我們的 ODM 供應商密切合作，以具有競爭力的價格確保批量承諾。最後，我們預計公司調整後的 EBITDA 總額將在 200 萬美元至 200 萬美元的虧損範圍內。總之，2021 年對於 VIZIO 來說是關鍵的一年。從我們部署的戰略到我們對人員、系統和產品的投資，我們相信我們只是抓住了未來機會的表面。

In 2022, we will continue to invest in additional platform enhancements for viewers, advertisers and content partners alike. We will continue to invest in talent to drive growth throughout the business. We expect to develop new monetizable capabilities and deploy technologies to drive greater efficiencies.

2022 年，我們將繼續投資於為觀眾、廣告商和內容合作夥伴等提供額外的平台增強功能。我們將繼續投資於人才，以推動整個業務的增長。我們期望開發新的貨幣化能力並部署技術以提高效率。

As we have often said, we believe the opportunity has extraordinary and we will continue to allocate resources to ensure we capitalize on the tremendous industry shifts ahead. With that, let's open up the call to questions. Operator?

正如我們經常說的那樣，我們相信機會非凡，我們將繼續分配資源，以確保我們利用未來巨大的行業轉變。有了這個，讓我們打開問題的電話。操作員？

(Operator Instructions) The first question comes from Laura Martin of Needham.

（操作員說明）第一個問題來自 Needham 的 Laura Martin。

Let's start with EBITDA. So really strong EBITDA in the fourth quarter, it looks like most of it was -- your operating expenses were about $6 million lower, or better, I guess, than we expected. But then the EBITDA guidance for Q1 feels like it's worse or low (inaudible). So is there something going on between the 2 quarters in terms of just some expenses shifted from Q4 to Q1 potentially?

讓我們從 EBITDA 開始。第四季度的 EBITDA 非常強勁，看起來大部分都是——我猜，你的運營費用比我們預期的低了大約 600 萬美元，或者更好。但隨後第一季度的 EBITDA 指導感覺更糟或更低（聽不清）。那麼這兩個季度之間是否發生了一些事情，只是一些費用可能從第四季度轉移到第一季度？

Yes, Laura. It's a great question. So there's some timing dynamics with expenses such as marketing is an example as well as some of the other personnel expenses and SG&A as we're going through the quarter at the end of the year. But this is overall part of our broader strategy that we've been talking about in terms of being willing to bring down margins on Device to increase our competitive in the market.

是的，勞拉。這是一個很好的問題。因此，有一些時間動態，例如營銷等費用以及其他一些人員費用和 SG&A，因為我們將在年底完成這個季度。但這是我們更廣泛戰略的整體部分，我們一直在談論願意降低設備的利潤率以提高我們在市場上的競爭力。

We're doing that more aggressively here in Q1 on the back of the fact that we now have good strong channel inventory levels. Now that we have units in the market, we can go out and work with our retail partners to promote and merchandise and move more products to help drive customer acquisition, as I mentioned in the remarks.

由於我們現在擁有強大的渠道庫存水平，因此我們在第一季度更加積極地這樣做。正如我在評論中提到的那樣，現在我們在市場上有單位，我們可以出去與我們的零售合作夥伴合作，推廣和銷售更多產品，以幫助推動客戶獲取。

So it's just a dynamic of that. It probably eases a bit as we go through the year. And this is probably the most -- the lowest level that we would see for the year. And so -- but as a part of that overall broader strategy, I do want to emphasize that on the Device side, we are expecting to have lower single-digit like margins.

所以這只是其中的一個動態。隨著我們度過這一年，它可能會有所緩解。這可能是我們今年看到的最高水平——最低水平。所以 - 但作為整體更廣泛戰略的一部分，我確實想強調，在設備方面，我們預計會有更低的個位數利潤率。

I'll remind you that the margins you saw that we had over the -- during the pandemic period were elevated due to some of the dynamics that we all talked about, right? High demand, excessive demand, pull down of inventory, no need to promote or market products or cut pricing. And so it was kind of a typical period where we had double-digit margins in our Device business.

我會提醒您，由於我們都談到的一些動態，您在大流行期間看到的利潤率有所提高，對嗎？高需求，過度需求，拉低庫存，無需推銷產品或降價。所以這是一個典型的時期，我們的設備業務利潤率達到兩位數。

That was never sustainable. We were very, very clear about this, but this new strategic position then puts us in a better place to help grow and drive the flywheel into our Platform Plus business.

那永遠是不可持續的。我們對此非常非常清楚，但是這一新的戰略地位使我們處於一個更好的位置，可以幫助我們發展並推動飛輪進入我們的 Platform Plus 業務。

Okay. And then my last question -- my second to last question is this issue of data. Both you and William talked about the growth of data, and you said that 87% of your Platform Plus revenue was -- thank you for giving the $82 million, I guess, about 78%. My question is, do data step up a lot in the quarter and should we see that continue into 2022?

好的。然後我的最後一個問題——我的倒數第二個問題是這個數據問題。你和威廉都談到了數據的增長，你說你的 Platform Plus 收入的 87% 是——謝謝你給了 8200 萬美元，我猜，大約是 78%。我的問題是，本季度的數據是否會大幅增加，我們是否應該看到這種情況持續到 2022 年？

It did step up a bit in the quarter, but I think it's more of a driver into 2022. We've got a pipeline now of a number of previous multiyear deals that are coming up for renewal for the first time in a while. Our data has only become more valuable in the marketplace since we originally did those deals.

它在本季度確實有所提升，但我認為它更多地是進入 2022 年的驅動力。我們現在已經有了一些以前的多年交易的管道，這些交易將在一段時間內首次更新。自從我們最初進行這些交易以來，我們的數據在市場上變得更有價值。

And then we have a few even larger deals with particularly new clients coming into that as well. So I see data as a growth driver returning in 2022. As you know, we pivoted our strategy around data a year ago, and that reduced some of the near-term growth as we shifted off into a new strategy. But that strategy helped us drive growth in our advertising business as well. So that's really where the offset is. Now we're in a position where both sides are going to be growing simultaneously.

然後我們還有一些更大的交易，特別是新客戶也加入其中。因此，我將數據視為 2022 年回歸的增長動力。如您所知，我們在一年前圍繞數據調整了戰略，隨著我們轉向新戰略，這降低了一些近期增長。但這一戰略也幫助我們推動了廣告業務的增長。所以這就是偏移量的真正所在。現在我們處於雙方都將同時增長的位置。

Yes, I think Mike, I was going to add 1 thing. Just I think in the marketplace today, the driver of this data licensing business is all the buzz around this next generation of TV currency products in the market, right?

是的，我想邁克，我要添加 1 件事。只是我認為在今天的市場上，這種數據許可業務的驅動力是市場上圍繞下一代電視貨幣產品的所有嗡嗡聲，對吧？

We've got incredible experience with data. We've been in the market for almost 8 years. And that's really important to note as the industry starts to shift to these new currencies, you heard a lot of talk around NBCU, Warner Media, Disney, looking at new outcome-based solutions. We are the core foundational currency-grade data that's powering these currencies of the future. So it's an important business for us moving forward.

我們在數據方面擁有令人難以置信的經驗。我們已經進入市場將近 8 年了。隨著行業開始轉向這些新貨幣，這一點非常重要，你聽到了很多關於 NBCU、華納媒體、迪士尼的討論，他們正在尋找基於結果的新解決方案。我們是驅動這些未來貨幣的核心基礎貨幣級數據。因此，這對我們前進是一項重要的業務。

The next question comes from Michael Morris of Guggenheim.

下一個問題來自古根海姆的邁克爾莫里斯。

Two questions. One, I just wanted to dig in a little more on the sort of unit sales and the outlook side of things. You talked about the stock levels being back to sort of pre-pandemic. But based on the Device revenue in the quarter, it still seems that the ultimate sales are soft.

兩個問題。一，我只是想深入了解一下單位銷售和事物的前景方面。你談到庫存水平回到了大流行前的水平。但從該季度的設備收入來看，最終的銷售似乎仍然疲軟。

And then you also referenced some promotion going forward. So can you just maybe connect the dots a little bit on where the bottlenecks still are in terms of getting units into people's homes? And also what we should read into the kind of end demand side on the promotion. So maybe I'll start with that and then I want to ask you a question about WatchFree+.

然後你還提到了一些未來的促銷活動。那麼，您能否將這些點聯繫起來，了解在將單元送入人們家中方面仍然存在的瓶頸？還有我們應該讀到促銷的那種終端需求方。所以也許我會從這個開始，然後我想問你一個關於 WatchFree+ 的問題。

Yes. Thanks, Mike. So what I was trying to articulate is that we spent a lot of time during the quarter building up channel inventories that were light as we came into the fourth quarter. And so some of the latency in the system has been easing a bit, but it's still challenging, as you're hearing from many companies.

是的。謝謝，邁克。所以我想表達的是，我們在本季度花費了大量時間來建立渠道庫存，這些庫存在我們進入第四季度時很輕。因此，系統中的一些延遲已經有所緩解，但它仍然具有挑戰性，正如您從許多公司那裡聽到的那樣。

So a lot of the work was done to bring channel inventories up to what I would call healthier more normalized levels, which means that we're in a position of about 6 to 8 weeks of forward demand inventory. We entered the quarter at a much lower level and had bottomed out, as you know, back in the July time period.

因此，我們做了很多工作來將渠道庫存提高到我所說的更健康、更正常的水平，這意味著我們處於大約 6 到 8 週的遠期需求庫存位置。如您所知，我們進入該季度時的水平要低得多，並且在 7 月份已經觸底。

So that helped us move into that position. And to William's comments earlier, now that we have that strong position, it allows us to be more strategic with what we want to do about pricing, promotions to move units. It's hard to deploy those kinds of tactics when you don't have a strong stock position.

所以這幫助我們進入了那個位置。根據威廉早些時候的評論，現在我們擁有如此強大的地位，它使我們能夠在定價、促銷活動方面更具戰略性。當您沒有強大的股票頭寸時，很難部署這些策略。

And so now that we're there coming into Q1, you're starting to see us do that, and I referenced the example of the -- our 50-inch V-series TV, where we made a pretty aggressive price move on it and immediately started to sell through at a very nice level and became the #1 selling 50-inch TV in the market.

所以現在我們已經進入第一季度，你開始看到我們這樣做了，我引用了我們的 50 英寸 V 系列電視的例子，我們對它進行了相當激進的價格調整並立即開始以非常好的水平銷售，並成為市場上銷量第一的 50 英寸電視。

Those kinds of tactics you can do once you have a strong stock position. So we're going to continue to manage that. There are still some challenges in the market. We know that. We have some of our units -- some of the smaller units are still stuck on vessels and slow to get through the ports and we'll just continue to work with all of our partners to try to mitigate that as much as possible. But we are in a significantly better position coming into 2022 in terms of channel inventories.

一旦您擁有強大的股票頭寸，您就可以採取這些策略。所以我們將繼續管理它。市場上仍然存在一些挑戰。我們知道。我們有一些單位——一些較小的單位仍然被困在船上，通過港口的速度很慢，我們將繼續與所有合作夥伴合作，盡可能地減輕這種情況。但在進入 2022 年的渠道庫存方面，我們處於明顯更好的位置。

Okay. And then you referenced 50% of SmartCast users now are watching the WatchFree+. Can you talk about either how much time they're spending or how the engagement has been trending? And I don't know to the extent you can maybe frame how much more valuable it is for you to have time spent on the WatchFree+ app as compared to time spent, maybe on another app where you might still get an ad split or something like that, but isn't completely controlled by you.

好的。然後你提到現在有 50% 的 SmartCast 用戶正在觀看 WatchFree+。您能否談談他們花費了多少時間或參與度的趨勢如何？而且我不知道你能在多大程度上描述花在 WatchFree+ 應用上的時間與花在 WatchFree+ 應用上的時間相比更有價值，也許在另一個應用上你可能仍然會得到廣告拆分或類似的東西那個，但不是完全由你控制的。

Mike, you want to take that?

邁克，你想拿那個嗎？

Yes. I'll take that. So look, WatchFree+ as we positioned before, I think is the biggest growth engine for our advertising business is where we continue to invest. So we effectively made WatchFree+ an unavoidable app on the platform, right? We got a ton of touch points whether it be remote, navbar, custom carousel, the app itself, but also the promotion that we put behind WatchFree+ on our platform and that enables us to drive a lot more viewers into the service.

是的。我會接受的。所以看，我們之前定位的 WatchFree+，我認為是我們廣告業務最大的增長引擎，也是我們繼續投資的地方。所以我們有效地讓 WatchFree+ 成為平台上不可避免的應用程序，對吧？我們有大量的接觸點，無論是遠程、導航欄、自定義輪播、應用程序本身，還有我們在平台上放置 WatchFree+ 的促銷活動，這使我們能夠吸引更多的觀眾使用該服務。

We've invested a lot in the service over the past year. In August, we made a big transition to bringing in a new UI to controlling more of the content experience, adding new features. We most recently just added AVOD or video on demand into WatchFree+. So we're continuing to innovate the service. We're continuing to put support behind it from a promotional aspect.

在過去的一年裡，我們在這項服務上投入了大量資金。 8 月，我們進行了重大轉變，引入了新 UI 以控制更多內容體驗，並添加了新功能。我們最近剛剛在 WatchFree+ 中添加了 AVOD 或視頻點播。因此，我們將繼續創新服務。我們將繼續從促銷方面為其提供支持。

And we think it's going to be the key driver for us in the future. But that entails us continuing to push up more engagement time spent within there as well as continue to generate more active users on our platform of WatchFree+.

我們認為這將成為我們未來的關鍵驅動力。但這需要我們繼續增加在那里花費的更多參與時間，並繼續在我們的 WatchFree+ 平台上產生更多活躍用戶。

Yes. And Mike, let me just add 1 other point in context. Now when you think about the advertising portion of our ARPU, the growth of that comes from a few different factors, right? Higher CPMs, more impressions into the home screen and where people are actually spending their time, which is your question.

是的。還有邁克，讓我在上下文中添加另外一點。現在，當您考慮我們 ARPU 的廣告部分時，它的增長來自幾個不同的因素，對吧？更高的每千次展示費用，更多的主屏幕展示次數以及人們實際花費時間的地方，這是你的問題。

So all-time spent is not created equally. If someone is spending time in WatchFree+, that's the great place for us to have them. If they're spending time in non-ad-supported apps, that doesn't help us quite as much. So when you look at our growth in ARPU which was up 67% year-over-year, our SmartCast hours in that same time period rolling up 11% and our active accounts are up 24%.

因此，所有花費的時間並不是平等創造的。如果有人花時間在 WatchFree+ 上，那是我們擁有他們的好地方。如果他們花時間在不受廣告支持的應用程序上，那對我們的幫助就沒有那麼大了。因此，當您查看我們的 ARPU 增長（同比增長 67%）時，我們在同一時期的 SmartCast 小時數增長了 11%，我們的活躍賬戶增長了 24%。

So it shows that the monetization is occurring because we're getting that flywheel effect of each of those components that contributes to overall ARPU. So the monetization exercise is working incredibly well at this point.

因此，它表明貨幣化正在發生，因為我們正在獲得有助於整體 ARPU 的每個組件的飛輪效應。因此，貨幣化活動在這一點上運行得非常好。

We now have a question from Nick Zangler of Stephens.

我們現在有一個來自斯蒂芬斯的尼克贊格勒的問題。

Hey guys, great Platform Plus results, great Platform Plus guide. I did want to dig in on some of the hours here. So VIZIO hours increased 20% year-over-year. SmartCast hours increased 11%, so that penetration rate of SmartCast fall to 48.7%, which is lower than the results you've had over the last year.

嘿伙計們，很棒的 Platform Plus 結果，很棒的 Platform Plus 指南。我確實想深入了解這裡的一些時間。因此，VIZIO 小時數同比增加了 20%。 SmartCast 小時數增加了 11%，因此 SmartCast 的滲透率下降到 48.7%，低於您去年的結果。

So I guess I would have expected a higher penetration rate here given all the new streaming services that you've just added late third quarter all throughout the fourth quarter. So I'm just wondering if you could help me understand some of the discrepancy in that thought. And maybe you'd be willing to provide any details on those non-SmartCast VIZIO hours. What specifically are the sources that make up that 51%? I mean I imagine it's cable, it's use of players, sticks and dongles and access to VIZIO games systems, but maybe you'd be willing to size some of those up for us.

因此，考慮到您剛剛在整個第四季度末添加的所有新流媒體服務，我想我預計這裡的滲透率會更高。所以我只是想知道你是否可以幫助我理解這種想法中的一些差異。也許您願意提供有關那些非 SmartCast VIZIO 時間的任何詳細信息。構成這 51% 的具體來源是什麼？我的意思是我想它是電纜，它使用播放器、搖桿和加密狗以及訪問 VIZIO 遊戲系統，但也許你願意為我們調整其中的一些大小。

Yes, Nick. Sure. Yes, it's an interesting dynamic. Look, we're coming off of a couple of years of pretty atypical behavior, right, with the pandemic and the lack of original content coming from the traditional linear content providers. So it's hard to know exactly what normal is.

是的，尼克。當然。是的，這是一個有趣的動態。看，我們正在擺脫幾年非常非典型的行為，對，大流行和缺乏來自傳統線性內容提供商的原創內容。所以很難確切地知道什麼是正常的。

We've been growing our overall hours. We're very pleased with that. We're driving them to the point earlier into the content where we monetize best, that's what's going to contribute to our ARPU growth more than hours by itself. So that's an important dynamic. And we're using our home screen. We're using our data to drive people into and using search results to drive people into the content where we can both meet their needs and what they're looking for and monetize for ourselves.

我們一直在增加我們的總工作時間。我們對此非常滿意。我們正在推動他們更早地進入我們最能獲利的內容，這將有助於我們的 ARPU 增長超過幾個小時。所以這是一個重要的動態。我們正在使用我們的主屏幕。我們正在使用我們的數據來吸引人們進入，並使用搜索結果來吸引人們進入我們既能滿足他們的需求，又能滿足他們正在尋找的內容並為自己獲利的內容。

So we'll continue to track this and monitor it very closely. I mean it is roughly, give or take, back in the peak during the pandemic, it was SmartCast hours as a percent of total was about 52%. It's come down to 49%, 48% right now in the last few quarters. So again, I don't know what normal is yet. But we know we're bringing a great value proposition to the consumer, allowing them to watch the content across whatever inputs that they want, and we benefit from that from a data standpoint, from an overall active monetization standpoint.

因此，我們將繼續跟踪並密切監控它。我的意思是，在大流行期間的高峰期，大致是給予或接受，這是 SmartCast 小時，佔總數的百分比約為 52%。在過去的幾個季度中，它現在下降到 49% 和 48%。再說一次，我還不知道什麼是正常的。但我們知道，我們正在為消費者帶來巨大的價值主張，讓他們能夠通過他們想要的任何輸入觀看內容，並且從數據的角度來看，從整體活躍的貨幣化角度來看，我們從中受益。

Great. And then it seems like everybody wants to have their own TV these days. So I'm just wondering if you could maybe just take some time to talk about in your mind, the advantages, the unique advantages that you guys have by owning both the operating system software and the Smart TV hardware in the context of supply chain challenges that we're facing right now but even over the years to come from a more long-term perspective.

偉大的。然後似乎現在每個人都想擁有自己的電視。所以我只是想知道你們是否可以花一些時間來談談你們在供應鏈挑戰的背景下擁有操作系統軟件和智能電視硬件所擁有的優勢和獨特優勢從更長遠的角度來看，我們現在正面臨著，但即使是多年以來。

Yes, good question. I don't -- I can't imagine anybody who want to build a power without building software details. And today, the IoT world need both to impress and to maximize the consumer experience. And again, we've been doing TV for almost 20 years now. And I think we (inaudible) market, we paid a lot of attention to understand (inaudible) what not to do. And I really don't believe in the separation of hardware and software. We're here to build a final product on consumer in order for any consumer to -- in order for us to maximize consumer experience, we need to control both qualities and we integrate it together.

是的，好問題。我不——我無法想像有誰想要在不構建軟件細節的情況下建立權力。而今天，物聯網世界既需要給人留下深刻印象，又需要最大限度地提高消費者體驗。再說一次，我們已經做電視近 20 年了。而且我認為我們（聽不清）市場，我們非常注意了解（聽不清）不該做什麼。而且我真的不相信硬件和軟件的分離。我們在這里為消費者構建最終產品，以便任何消費者 - 為了使我們最大化消費者體驗，我們需要控制這兩種質量並將它們整合在一起。

So we've been doing that for the last 6 and 7 years. But we've been working on Smart TV for more than 11 years. And 11 years ago, we actually tried to run operating system from somebody else. And end of the day, it did not work. So we're going to stick to our hardware and software indication -- integrated solution. I believe this is the feature for anybody who want to build Smart TV.

因此，在過去的 6 年和 7 年中，我們一直在這樣做。但我們在智能電視上的工作已經超過 11 年了。 11 年前，我們實際上試圖從別人那裡運行操作系統。一天結束，它沒有工作。所以我們將堅持我們的硬件和軟件指示——集成解決方案。我相信這是任何想要構建智能電視的人的功能。

We now have Cory Carpenter of JPMorgan.

我們現在有摩根大通的 Cory Carpenter。

I have 2, both on advertising, maybe for Mike, just hoping you could talk more broadly about the trends you're seeing in the ad market. We've certainly heard from a lot -- others around headwinds from inventory from certain categories. Curious if you saw that at all? And then you did mention off-platform advertising a couple of times in the prepared remarks. So hoping you could just assess how big is that today on maybe some of the stuff that you're doing there?

我有兩個關於廣告的，也許是給邁克的，只是希望你能更廣泛地談論你在廣告市場上看到的趨勢。我們當然已經聽到了很多消息——其他一些關於某些類別庫存的逆風。好奇你是否看到了這一點？然後你在準備好的評論中確實提到了幾次平台外廣告。所以希望你能根據你在那裡做的一些事情來評估今天有多大？

Yes. So I'll start with kind of the categories we're seeing. Look, for -- for us, we're starting from, at this point, smaller dollar pools on the marketplace. So it's tough to afford, we're really only 2 years into monetization.

是的。所以我將從我們看到的類別開始。看，對於我們來說，我們現在是從市場上較小的美元池開始的。所以很難負擔，我們真的只有 2 年進入貨幣化。

So we still have a huge run rate ahead of us. So today, from a category standpoint, media and entertainment is our largest category. We continue to see strong momentum and we expect there to be strong momentum in this category for the foreseeable future.

所以我們面前還有一個巨大的運行速度。所以今天，從品類的角度來看，媒體和娛樂是我們最大的品類。我們繼續看到強勁的勢頭，我們預計在可預見的未來該類別將有強勁的勢頭。

There's always going to be new and existing shows to promote. There's always going to be the need to drive subscriptions. There's new apps coming into the market. And they need us to help with audience attention, share of voice, new subscribers are reducing charts.

總會有新的和現有的節目要推廣。總是需要推動訂閱。有新的應用程序進入市場。他們需要我們幫助提高觀眾的注意力、聲音份額，新訂戶正在減少圖表。

So that business still is our largest and continues to grow. But we've really done a great job, especially over this past year and expanding to new pools of categories. And our overall growth is really much more broad than the media and entertainment category today. And we saw that in terms of lifts in insurance, in retail and automotive.

因此，該業務仍然是我們最大的業務，並且還在繼續增長。但我們確實做得很好，尤其是在過去的一年裡，並且擴展到了新的類別池。我們的整體增長確實比今天的媒體和娛樂類別要廣泛得多。我們在保險、零售和汽車領域看到了這一點。

While there is pressure on some of these categories today in the marketplace, for us, as we continue to ramp up, as we continue to push our value prop in the marketplace, we continue to be able to grow these categories, and we expect to continue to do that this next year.

儘管當今市場上其中一些類別面臨壓力，但對我們而言，隨著我們繼續擴大規模，隨著我們繼續在市場上推動我們的價值支柱，我們將繼續能夠發展這些類別，並且我們期望明年繼續這樣做。

In terms of Household Connect, look, it's an exciting product for us. What it does is it effectively allows us to coordinate, I'll call it omnichannel campaigns that can run across TV, mobile, desktop and really what that does is allows you to see an add on TV and re-message those consumers, whether they're inside of the home or outside of the home, right?

就家庭互聯而言，看，這對我們來說是一個令人興奮的產品。它的作用是讓我們有效地進行協調，我稱之為全渠道活動，它可以在電視、移動設備、桌面上運行，真正的作用是讓你在電視上看到附加內容並重新向這些消費者發送消息，無論他們是是在家裡還是在外面，對吧？

It's important to us because we know most consumers aren't spending a lot of time or are spending a lot of time across multiple different platforms. So this allows our campaigns to be more coordinated and help improve the outcomes we see effectively for our advertising partners. But it's really important because it helps us expand our TAM, right? We have an incredible advertising sales team in the marketplace and this gives them more and more opportunities to sell all of Device.

這對我們很重要，因為我們知道大多數消費者並沒有在多個不同平台上花費大量時間或花費大量時間。因此，這使我們的活動更加協調，並有助於改善我們為廣告合作夥伴有效看到的結果。但這真的很重要，因為它可以幫助我們擴展 TAM，對嗎？我們在市場上有一支令人難以置信的廣告銷售團隊，這給了他們越來越多的機會來銷售所有的設備。

I said in the past, we don't necessarily have a demand problem, right? For us, we want to be able to generate as much supply across our on-platform as well as off-platform so we can deliver against that demand. And our Household Connect has continued to expand and grow as we've invested, invested more and more.

我過去說過，我們不一定有需求問題，對吧？對我們來說，我們希望能夠在我們的平台上和平台外產生盡可能多的供應，以便我們能夠針對這種需求進行交付。隨著我們的投資越來越多，我們的家庭互聯不斷擴大和發展。

We just announced a deal with TransUnion. This brings in their identity and marketplace products into our Household Connect platform, which already had our, we say, best-in-class or largest ECR dataset in the marketplace as well as the very large device graph from Verizon or Yahoo!. So we're continuing to innovate and expand on the Household Connect offering and we expect to continue to push forward with that in the marketplace.

我們剛剛宣布與 TransUnion 達成協議。這將他們的身份和市場產品引入我們的家庭連接平台，我們說，該平台已經擁有我們在市場上同類最佳或最大的 ECR 數據集，以及來自 Verizon 或 Yahoo! 的超大型設備圖。因此，我們將繼續創新和擴展 Household Connect 產品，我們希望繼續在市場上推動這一進程。

In terms of any guidance around what that looks like, at this point, I think we're not ready to share that. But we'll say that we expect it to see some good growth from this product in this next year.

關於看起來像什麼的任何指導，在這一點上，我認為我們還沒有準備好分享它。但我們會說，我們預計它會在明年看到該產品的一些良好增長。

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

下一個問題來自美國銀行的Wamsi Mohan。

Yes. On the Device side, you indicated your intentions to be more promotional. Can you talk about what sort of growth you're hoping to drive in TV units in '22 versus '21, assuming that the inventory levels are better? I know you're talking about driving increased promotional activity. But -- if you look at TV units in 2021 versus the past 2 years, I know there were some pandemic benefits and some of the lower-end TVs were used as monitors. But how should we be thinking about the absolute level or maybe growth rate of TV units as we look into 2022? And I have a follow-up.

是的。在設備方面，您表示打算進行更多宣傳。假設庫存水平更好，你能談談你希望在 22 年和 21 年推動電視單位的增長嗎？我知道你說的是推動增加促銷活動。但是——如果你看一下 2021 年的電視機與過去 2 年的對比，我知道有一些流行病的好處，一些低端電視機被用作顯示器。但是，展望 2022 年，我們應該如何考慮電視單位的絕對水平或增長率？我有一個後續行動。

Yes. Look, if you look at sort of pre-pandemic 2019, we shipped roughly 6 million units. Obviously, there was a surge in 2020 in the early days of the stimulus and the pandemic impact. 2021 really took the brunt of supply chain challenges and logistics challenges, right? There was a hangover that came into the year in terms of chip supplies, panel, supplies, freight, trucking, every element of the supply chain was challenged in 2021.

是的。看，如果你看一下 2019 年大流行前的情況，我們出貨了大約 600 萬台。顯然，在刺激和大流行影響的初期，2020 年出現了激增。 2021 年真的首當其衝受到供應鏈挑戰和物流挑戰的衝擊，對吧？在芯片供應、面板、供應、貨運、卡車運輸方面，今年出現了宿醉，供應鏈的每一個環節都在 2021 年受到了挑戰。

We do think that those challenges did peak during the year, and we've seen some easing and various elements of the supply chain dynamic, certainly on the component side, much, much better. Logistics continues to be still a bottlenecked to a certain extent. So we're going to continue to monitor that. But I think the expectations broadly in the market, even those challenges start to ease some people predicting midyear. I don't want to make a prediction. But certainly, doing it as a peak challenged year in '21.

我們確實認為這些挑戰在這一年中確實達到了頂峰，我們已經看到供應鏈動態的一些緩和和各種元素，當然在組件方面，要好得多。物流在一定程度上仍然是瓶頸。因此，我們將繼續對此進行監控。但我認為市場的廣泛預期，即使是這些挑戰也開始緩解一些人對年中的預測。我不想做出預測。但可以肯定的是，將其作為 21 年挑戰高峰的一年。

So if you went from pre-pandemic at the 6 million range, up towards 7 million during 2020 and then back down to mid-5 million units in 2021. We certainly think that now with our channel inventories, now with the strength of our product lineup, the capabilities we're bringing to the market, the features and what we've added to SmartCast and our ability to promote that, we think we should be able to see a return to growth in new shipments.

因此，如果您從大流行前的 600 萬部到 2020 年的 700 萬部，然後在 2021 年回落到 500 萬部中期。我們當然認為現在有了我們的渠道庫存，現在有了我們的產品實力陣容、我們為市場帶來的功能、我們為 SmartCast 添加的功能和內容以及我們推廣它的能力，我們認為我們應該能夠看到新出貨量恢復增長。

Okay. That's helpful. And then -- on the Platform Plus side, when we think about the gross margins, clearly, there are lots of moving pieces here, and I know you're investing quite heavily in the business. How should we expect the trajectory of gross margins in 2022 here? And any color you can share around the back-end work that you've done around payment integration, how that's progressing?

好的。這很有幫助。然後 - 在 Platform Plus 方面，當我們考慮毛利率時，很明顯，這裡有很多變動因素，我知道你在業務上投入了大量資金。我們應該如何預期 2022 年的毛利率軌跡？您可以圍繞支付集成所做的後端工作分享任何顏色，進展如何？

Sure. Yes. Look, I mean, clearly, as we expand the pie of our opportunity on the Platform Plus side, there are going to be revenue sources that come with a different margin profile. For example, some of the off-platform stuff that Mike was just talking about, by nature, has a lower margin than (inaudible), like, for example, home screen, which has a very, very high margin.

當然。是的。看，我的意思是，很明顯，隨著我們在 Platform Plus 方面擴大我們的機會蛋糕，將會有不同利潤率的收入來源。例如，Mike 剛才談到的一些平台外的東西，本質上比（聽不清）的利潤率低，例如，主屏幕的利潤率非常非常高。

So we're looking at ways to drive growth in both areas to help create offsets and maintain a very strong margin. We guided for Q1 -- low mid-60% gross margin for the quarter consistent with Q4. So I think we're doing a nice job of finding that balance. I'm not going to apologize for 60-plus percent margins. I think it's a really fantastic business. But what's great about where we're headed is that we're expanding the pie, we're expanding the TAM. That's going to generate additional total dollars. If the margin directionally starts to edge down over time, again, we're going to manage that, so it's not dramatic, but it's a natural thing that's going to happen as the business becomes more complex and has more components to it.

因此，我們正在尋找推動這兩個領域增長的方法，以幫助創造抵消並保持非常強勁的利潤率。我們為第一季度提供指導——該季度的毛利率為 60% 左右，與第四季度一致。所以我認為我們在找到這種平衡方面做得很好。我不會為超過 60% 的利潤率道歉。我認為這是一項非常棒的業務。但我們前進的方向的好處在於我們正在擴大餡餅，我們正在擴大 TAM。這將產生額外的總美元。如果利潤率隨著時間的推移開始逐漸下降，我們將再次進行管理，所以這不是戲劇性的，但隨著業務變得更加複雜並且包含更多組件，這是自然而然的事情。

One component is exactly what you're asking about is on the subscription billing side. That, too, will have a different margin and a lower margin profile than say home screen advertising, just by way of the -- of the dynamics of what that business is. But again, we want to be in that business. We think it increases stickiness for the consumer. It brings an even better value prop to them. It's a great value profit and customer acquisition vehicle for our content partners.

訂閱計費方面正是您要問的一個組件。與主屏幕廣告相比，這也將具有不同的利潤率和更低的利潤率，這僅取決於該業務的動態。但同樣，我們想從事這項業務。我們認為它增加了消費者的粘性。它為他們帶來了更好的價值支撐。對於我們的內容合作夥伴來說，這是一個巨大的價值利潤和客戶獲取工具。

We now have content partners lined up to bring their apps to our service because we can start to fulfill the billing for them. Premium cable is a great example of that. They want that capability to launch on our platform. So all of this just comes to a collective increased value to our partners across advertising, our partners across content and obviously, our consumers. So we're going to continue to work very closely and manage what that margin looks like.

我們現在有內容合作夥伴排隊將他們的應用程序提供給我們的服務，因為我們可以開始為他們支付賬單。優質電纜就是一個很好的例子。他們希望在我們的平台上啟動該功能。因此，所有這一切都為我們的廣告合作夥伴、我們的內容合作夥伴以及顯然我們的消費者帶來了集體增值。因此，我們將繼續密切合作並管理利潤的樣子。

We now have the next question from Steven Cahall of Wells Fargo.

我們現在有來自富國銀行的 Steven Cahall 的下一個問題。

Maybe first, William and Adam, one of your peers has kind of said that they think that the connected TV operating system market is going to consolidate down just a couple of players. And so it sounds like they're going to spend a lot of money this year in order to compete with that. I was just wondering if you could give your perspective on how you think the operating system market is going to play out and how you think about kind of cost and EBITDA margin as you manage through that investment process?

也許首先，William 和 Adam，你們的一位同行曾說過，他們認為聯網電視操作系統市場將整合幾個參與者。所以聽起來他們今年要花很多錢來與之競爭。我只是想知道您是否可以就您認為操作系統市場將如何發展以及在您通過該投資過程進行管理時如何看待成本和 EBITDA 利潤率發表您的看法？

Yes, I'll take the operating system. The operating system market in connected TV is pretty solid. So we have Samsung, which is unlikely to switch to another operating system. They have their own. LG has their own. And so we have our own and Roku is a vendor operating system to a Chinese domestic brand like Hisense or TCL and also Google (inaudible) operating system (inaudible) and also reasonably Comcast joining the camp. I don't -- I don't see like a PC or a cell phone come down to 2 operating systems at this particular time.

是的，我將使用操作系統。聯網電視的操作系統市場相當穩固。所以我們有三星，它不太可能切換到另一個操作系統。他們有自己的。 LG有自己的。所以我們有自己的操作系統，Roku 是海信或 TCL 等中國本土品牌的供應商操作系統，還有谷歌（聽不清）操作系統（聽不清），康卡斯特也合理地加入了陣營。我不——我不認為 PC 或手機在這個特定時間歸結為 2 個操作系統。

And it will happen, probably what happens through our time, but not immediately because it's unlikely -- it's really unlikely to shrink by 7 operating systems, all have like over 7%, 8% market shares down to 1 or 2 immediately in the future. The EBITDA, I will leave it to Adam.

它會發生，可能會在我們這個時代發生，但不會立即發生，因為它不太可能——它真的不太可能縮小 7 個操作系統，所有操作系統都擁有超過 7%、8% 的市場份額，未來會立即下降到 1 或 2 . EBITDA，我會把它留給亞當。

Yes. Look, Steve, I think one of the benefits, obviously, of controlling both the hardware and the software is that we have that full control over what those costs look like. And so I don't think EBITDA is necessarily -- trends in EBITDA are not necessarily a function of competition on the OS side.

是的。聽著，史蒂夫，我認為顯然控制硬件和軟件的好處之一是我們可以完全控制這些成本的樣子。所以我不認為 EBITDA 是必然的——EBITDA 的趨勢不一定是操作系統方面競爭的結果。

What we're really focused on is growing and developing our dual revenue model, which will, over time, help us improve EBITDA profitability. Obviously, we're in a period now where we're transitioning from elevated EBITDA levels because of the pandemic to more normalized and then maybe even lower as a result of being more aggressive. But once you baseline that, the high profit margin of the Platform Plus business and the growth trajectory that it's on starts to shift that back the other direction and improve overall consolidated EBITDA.

我們真正關注的是發展和發展我們的雙重收入模式，隨著時間的推移，這將幫助我們提高 EBITDA 盈利能力。顯然，我們現在正處於一個時期，我們正在從因大流行而升高的 EBITDA 水平過渡到更加正常化，然後由於更加積極進取而可能甚至更低。但是，一旦您以此為基準，Platform Plus 業務的高利潤率及其所處的增長軌跡就會開始將其轉向另一個方向並改善整體合併 EBITDA。

So I think about it as really managing the 2 sides of the business to work in tandem to have that strategic benefit.

所以我認為它是真正管理業務的兩個方面，協同工作以獲得戰略利益。

Great. And then, Adam, maybe just on the SmartCast net adds. I know sometimes if we look at that conversion rate of TV shipment to net adds and that was pretty good versus what we expected in Q4. I know that there's some churn that's always baked into there. So I was just wondering if we could extrapolate anything out of what you saw in Q4 into 2022 or any other trend lines in there?

偉大的。然後，亞當，也許只是在 SmartCast 網上補充道。我有時知道，如果我們看一下電視出貨量與淨增加量的轉換率，這與我們在第四季度的預期相比相當不錯。我知道那裡總是有一些攪動。所以我只是想知道我們是否可以將您在第四季度看到的任何東西推斷到 2022 年或那裡的任何其他趨勢線？

Yes. This is another example where we're managing through some atypical dynamics that have happened in the marketplace. So active account growth is a function of both sell-through as well as shipments, right? And so we look at those 2 together in a normalized environment, they'd be pretty close together. There wouldn't be a material difference between the 2. But over the past 2 years, we have seen some divergence based on dynamics in the market. For example, back in 2020, those huge demand rush with the stimulus checks and everything that went out there as a drawdown, so sell-through outpaced shipments in that period.

是的。這是另一個例子，我們正在通過市場上發生的一些非典型動態進行管理。所以活躍的賬戶增長是銷售量和出貨量的共同作用，對吧？因此，我們在標準化環境中將這兩個放在一起看，它們會非常接近。兩者之間不會有實質性差異。但在過去的兩年中，我們看到了一些基於市場動態的分歧。例如，早在 2020 年，那些巨大的需求就會隨著刺激措施的出現而激增，而所有這些都作為縮編出現，因此在那段時期的銷售量超過了出貨量。

This year was sort of the opposite where we had the different dynamic in the marketplace due to availability of inventories. And so looking at that attachment rating has moved from north of 60% back in '19, '20, down to sort of 45%, 50% sort of in that range this year. What is normal? It's hard to say, but I think it's probably more in that 40% to 50% range. I'll remind you, newly sold TVs, we know become active accounts to the tune of 90-plus percent. So currently sold TV is converted very high. We've got a big fleet that goes back to 2016.

今年情況正好相反，由於庫存的可用性，我們在市場上有不同的動態。因此，從 19 年和 20 年的 60% 以上來看，該附件評級已經下降到今年該範圍內的 45%、50% 左右。什麼是正常的？很難說，但我認為可能更多的是在 40% 到 50% 的範圍內。我會提醒你，新售出的電視，我們知道成為活躍賬戶的比例高達 90% 以上。所以目前銷售的電視轉化率非常高。我們擁有一支可以追溯到 2016 年的大型機隊。

There's bound to be churn and by now, as you mentioned, in that base. And as that base gets bigger, that churn number changes, right? So that's another thing that we try to manage. We're looking very closely at keeping customers engaged, how do we bring the right product in, how do we bring the right content, how do we engage them in marketing to make sure that we reduce the churn over time so that we sell more units, then we're able to continue to improve that metric. But I think generally speaking, as you look forward, we'll probably be in that type of range in terms of the attachment metric.

正如你所提到的，現在肯定會有流失，在那個基地。隨著基數變大，流失數字也會發生變化，對吧？所以這是我們試圖管理的另一件事。我們正在密切關注保持客戶的參與度，我們如何引入正確的產品，我們如何引入正確的內容，我們如何讓他們參與營銷，以確保我們隨著時間的推移減少客戶流失，以便我們銷售更多單位，那麼我們就能夠繼續改進該指標。但我認為一般來說，正如你所期待的那樣，就附件指標而言，我們可能會處於這種範圍內。

We now have Tom Champion of Piper Sandler.

我們現在有 Piper Sandler 的 Tom Champion。

Adam or William, I'm curious if you could just talk a little bit more about the promotions you referenced in the script and the thought process behind those. Just curious, this is kind of offensive in nature to go out there and grab market share and stimulate sales or whether it's more defensive in nature and responding to dynamics you're seeing in the market? Just curious if you could provide some additional color and context there? And maybe a second 1 for Mike O'Donnell, if I could. Your advertising business is still nascent but rapidly scaling up. And I'm just curious how you think about goals and priorities in the '22 big picture?

亞當或威廉，我很好奇你能否多談談你在劇本中提到的促銷活動以及這些促銷活動背後的思考過程。只是好奇，走出去搶占市場份額並刺激銷售，這本質上是一種進攻性的行為，還是在本質上更具防禦性並響應您在市場上看到的動態？只是好奇你是否可以在那裡提供一些額外的顏色和上下文？如果可以的話，也許邁克·奧唐納（Mike O'Donnell）的第二個 1。您的廣告業務仍處於起步階段，但正在迅速擴大。我只是好奇你如何看待 22 年大局中的目標和優先事項？

Tom, yes. So the promotions effort is obviously a highly collaborative one, right? This is 1 where we work really closely with our retail partners to find some mutually beneficial dynamics to it, and our team has been doing this for a very, very long time and have deep relationships across all of our key partners.

湯姆，是的。所以促銷活動顯然是高度協作的，對吧？這是我們與零售合作夥伴密切合作的第一點，以找到一些互惠互利的動力，我們的團隊已經這樣做了很長時間，並且與我們所有的主要合作夥伴建立了深厚的關係。

So I would characterize it as probably offensive initially. You never know if it's defensive until you know what other people are going to do, right? But we've seen immediate benefit -- when we got aggressive in the example I used earlier on our 50-inch. We're going to look at other models throughout our lineup to do similar actions because we know that certain units tend to over-index as I mentioned in the prepared remarks in terms of engagement and ARPU opportunities.

因此，我最初將其描述為可能具有攻擊性。在您知道其他人會做什麼之前，您永遠不知道這是否是防禦性的，對嗎？但是我們已經看到了直接的好處——當我們在我之前在我們的 50 英寸上使用的示例中變得積極時。我們將在整個陣容中查看其他模型以採取類似行動，因為我們知道某些單位往往會過度指數化，正如我在準備好的評論中提到的參與度和 ARPU 機會。

And so we want to lean into that. And because, again, the whole goal of it is to get more units in the home, but the kind of units that help us drive ARPU and deeper engagement with our customers. And so we're going to be pretty tactful about what units we want to lean into and get aggressive on and look at what that means for the overall fleet. What competitors do, we'll have to see and assess and see what that looks like. But we know we can move the market. We've got a great high-quality product at a great attractive price. And when that price comes down a little bit and gets you more in line with some of those lower-cost leaders, the quality to price ratio skews very favorably for the consumer. So we're going to continue to work with our partners and make that as effective as possible.

因此，我們想要了解這一點。而且，因為它的全部目標是在家中獲得更多的單位，但這種單位可以幫助我們推動 ARPU 和更深入地與我們的客戶互動。因此，我們將非常委婉地了解我們想要傾斜和積極進取的單位，並看看這對整個艦隊意味著什麼。競爭對手做了什麼，我們必須看到和評估，看看它是什麼樣子。但我們知道我們可以推動市場。我們以極具吸引力的價格提供了優質的產品。當這個價格下降一點，讓你更符合一些低成本的領導者時，質量價格比對消費者來說非常有利。因此，我們將繼續與我們的合作夥伴合作，並使其盡可能有效。

Yes. And I'll just touch on the priorities and goals. Yes, it's -- it's a relatively new business in the market, as I shared, but I think we're -- from a fundamental standpoint, we still want to continue to grow our advertiser base, right, which we did this past quarter, 20%, and that includes over a political year last year and continue to grow the revenue per advertiser, which we did over 70%.

是的。我將只談優先事項和目標。是的，正如我所分享的，這是市場上一項相對較新的業務，但我認為我們是 - 從基本的角度來看，我們仍然希望繼續擴大我們的廣告客戶群，對，我們在上個季度做了, 20%，這包括去年超過一個政治年度，並繼續增加每個廣告客戶的收入，我們做到了超過 70%。

I think the way we're going to continue to do that is one, continuing to be out in the marketplace, not only evangelizing the value prop that we can bring from an addressable standpoint, leveraging the ACR first-party data we have in the marketplace, continuing to bring new products to market like Household Connect that give us the ability to expand our TAM and deepen our relationships across multiple devices.

我認為我們將繼續這樣做的方式是，繼續在市場中脫穎而出，不僅宣傳我們可以從可尋址的角度帶來的價值支柱，利用我們在 ACR 中擁有的第一方數據市場，繼續將新產品推向市場，例如家庭連接，使我們能夠擴展我們的 TAM 並加深我們在多種設備上的關係。

And then we're continuing to invest on the advertising side, not only in the SmartCast platform and WatchFree+ but also in ad tech and ad technology tools behind the business. So we've built out a strong product and engineering team over the past 6 months. That has helped us continue to increase fill rates, continue to increase CPMs, expand Household Connect, as we talked about, but also start to build new ad tech tools and products.

然後我們繼續在廣告方面進行投資，不僅投資於 SmartCast 平台和 WatchFree+，還投資於廣告技術和業務背後的廣告技術工具。因此，在過去的 6 個月中，我們建立了強大的產品和工程團隊。這幫助我們繼續提高填充率，繼續提高每千次展示費用，擴大家庭聯繫，正如我們所談到的，而且還開始構建新的廣告技術工具和產品。

So recently, we're leveraging our first-party data to provide planning tools to the markets for advertisers. We've got this great ACR data. We can help inform them what's happening in linear, so they can leverage bias on our platform to drive incremental reach and frequency against their target audience. So we'll continue to invest not only in growing the engagement on the platform to support the advertising sales team, but also continue to invest in ad tech.

所以最近，我們正在利用我們的第一方數據為廣告商提供市場規劃工具。我們有這個很棒的 ACR 數據。我們可以幫助他們以線性方式告知他們正在發生的事情，這樣他們就可以利用我們平台上的偏見來增加針對目標受眾的覆蓋面和頻率。因此，我們不僅將繼續投資於增加平台參與度以支持廣告銷售團隊，還將繼續投資於廣告技術。

We now have the next question from Vasily Karasyov of Cannonball Research.

我們現在有來自 Cannonball Research 的 Vasily Karasyov 的下一個問題。

My questions are about advertising revenue. You mentioned earlier on the call that CPMs increased. So I was wondering if you could talk about what the drivers were for each of the advertising revenue, I mean, sell-through versus volume versus CPM? And then is it fair to assume that as video advertising grows as a percentage of your Platform Plus revenue, the gross margin will be coming down because of where it sits compared to, let's say, sponsorship or home screen advertising?

我的問題是關於廣告收入的。您之前在電話會議上提到每千次展示費用增加了。所以我想知道你是否可以談談每個廣告收入的驅動因素，我的意思是，銷售量與銷量與每千次展示費用？然後假設隨著視頻廣告佔您的 Platform Plus 收入的百分比增長，毛利率會因為與讚助或主屏幕廣告相比的位置而下降，這是否公平？

Yes, I take the CPM growth and then Adam can touch on the gross margin component. But in terms of where we saw advertiser CPM growth, when I speak specifically to that, that's within our video inventory on Device is continuing to grow and expand. And a key component of that is now roughly 50% of the video revenue that we're generating is coming off of leveraging our ECR data. Our ECR data, having that core foundational first-party dataset enables us to drive better outcomes for our customers, but also enables us to drive higher CPMs in the market.

是的，我採用 CPM 增長，然後 Adam 可以觸及毛利率部分。但就我們看到廣告客戶每千次展示費用增長的地方而言，當我特別談到這一點時，我們在設備上的視頻庫存正在繼續增長和擴大。現在，其中一個關鍵組成部分是我們產生的大約 50% 的視頻收入來自利用我們的 ECR 數據。我們的 ECR 數據擁有核心基礎第一方數據集，使我們能夠為客戶帶來更好的結果，同時也使我們能夠在市場上推動更高的 CPM。

So that's a big function of where that CPM growth is. Also, the marketplace continues to be more competitive. Advertisers are having tougher and tougher time getting their money down in linear television. So that's continuing to drive up demand in the streaming space or the connected TV space, and we're a beneficiary of that.

所以這是每千次展示費用增長所在的一個重要功能。此外，市場繼續更具競爭力。廣告商在線性電視上投入資金的日子越來越難過。因此，這繼續推動流媒體空間或聯網電視空間的需求，我們是其中的受益者。

Yes. Look, and as I mentioned earlier, certainly, as the pie expands and as we increase the range of revenue opportunities that we have in the Platform Plus business, particularly your question about advertising, certainly, there's going to be some dynamic around what that means for the gross profit margin.

是的。看，正如我之前提到的，當然，隨著餡餅的擴大以及我們在 Platform Plus 業務中增加的收入機會範圍，特別是你關於廣告的問題，當然，這意味著什麼會有一些動態為毛利率。

But we anticipate it continuing to be a very strong high-margin business. Obviously, home screen is a range, right? Home screen is our highest margin monetization, On-device video is going to be high as well. And as you go off-device, as I mentioned earlier, that's going to come in a little bit lower margin, but that's okay because that expands our TAM. And so we want to have a broad-based diversified revenue mix that really helps to benefit our advertising partnerships and help them bring more and more of their budgets. Don't forget, these advertisers are looking for ways to get to viewers on CTV platforms. Dollars are coming out of the very large linear TV marketplace, which is a $70 billion marketplace.

但我們預計它仍將是一項非常強勁的高利潤業務。顯然，主屏幕是一個範圍，對吧？主屏幕是我們最高利潤的貨幣化，設備上的視頻也會很高。正如我之前提到的，當你離開設備時，利潤會稍微低一些，但這沒關係，因為這會擴展我們的 TAM。因此，我們希望擁有一個基礎廣泛的多元化收入組合，真正有助於我們的廣告合作夥伴受益，並幫助他們帶來越來越多的預算。不要忘記，這些廣告商正在尋找在 CTV 平台上吸引觀眾的方法。美元正在從一個 700 億美元的非常大的線性電視市場中流出。

There's dollars coming into CTV out of digital as well. If we have solutions for them, we're going to be able to capture a part of that pie, albeit at slightly different margins, and that's okay. So we want to position ourselves to be known in the marketplace as a destination for these buyers that are looking for viewers in this marketplace.

也有來自數字的美元進入 CTV。如果我們有針對它們的解決方案，我們將能夠獲得該餡餅的一部分，儘管利潤率略有不同，這沒關係。因此，我們希望將自己定位為在市場中尋找觀眾的買家的目的地。

A quick follow-up, if I may. Why off-screen advertising stream is a lower margin? Can you quickly explain?

如果可以的話，快速跟進。為什麼屏下廣告流的利潤率較低？你能快速解釋一下嗎？

Yes. So why Household Connect a lower margin because we don't control or own the inventory off-platform. So we are leveraging the data we have on our screen. We are leveraging some on-device advertising units, but then we're going out and the mobile, desktop and tablet we're buying out (inaudible) marketplace that we're attaching to these campaigns.

是的。那麼為什麼 Household Connect 的利潤率較低，因為我們不控製或擁有平台外的庫存。因此，我們正在利用屏幕上的數據。我們正在利用一些設備上的廣告單元，但隨後我們將走出去，我們正在購買（聽不清）我們附加到這些活動中的移動、桌面和平板電腦市場。

So there's a little bit of a lower margin because we have to lay out costs to go grab that inventory.

所以有一點點較低的利潤率，因為我們必須安排成本來獲取庫存。

Our final question today comes from Scott Searle of ROTH Capital.

我們今天的最後一個問題來自 ROTH Capital 的 Scott Searle。

The overall device market is going through normalization, right, in terms of the spike during the pandemic, complicated with supply chain issues, which seem like they're normalizing, certainly not normalized. And as we're getting back to that, I was wondering if you could provide a little bit more clarity and visibility to the seasonal aspect in the first quarter? Typically down 30% or so, but we're not in a normalized environment. I would imagine it's lessened given the supply constraints that existed in the fourth quarter and that we're 2/3 of the way through, I was wondering if you could give us a little bit of guidance on that front? Then I'll have a couple of quick follow-ups.

就大流行期間的高峰而言，整個設備市場正在經歷正常化，並與供應鏈問題複雜化，這些問題似乎正在正常化，當然不是正常化。當我們回到這一點時，我想知道您是否可以在第一季度對季節性方面提供更多的清晰度和可見性？通常下降 30% 左右，但我們並未處於標準化環境中。考慮到第四季度存在的供應限制，我想它已經減少了，而且我們已經完成了 2/3，我想知道你是否可以在這方面給我們一些指導？然後，我將進行一些快速跟進。

Yes. Look, I think the dynamic, as you described it is fair. And the difference for us right now is that we're coming into the first quarter period with a stronger general inventory position and that's going to allow us to do some of the tactics that I talked about earlier.

是的。看，我認為動態，正如你所描述的那樣是公平的。現在對我們來說不同的是，我們進入第一季度的總體庫存狀況更強，這將使我們能夠採取我之前談到的一些策略。

So Q1 had some promotion opportunities, for example, around the Super Bowl, right? So we were heavy participants in that environment, and we're going to look to continue to move products. So I think we should have a relatively strong hand to play in the first quarter that possibly would overshadow sort of normal seasonality trends.

所以 Q1 有一些推廣機會，比如超級碗，對吧？所以我們是那個環境中的重要參與者，我們將尋求繼續推動產品。所以我認為我們應該在第一季度有一手相對強的牌，這可能會掩蓋一些正常的季節性趨勢。

Got you. So bottom line is, given the current environment, less seasonality than normal should be performing a little bit better in the first quarter?

得到你。所以底線是，鑑於目前的環境，季節性低於正常水平的第一季度應該會表現得更好一些嗎？

That would be my anticipation.

那將是我的預期。

Okay. Second, on the payments front, billing e-wallet kind of capabilities. Could you update us in terms of the timeline of when you expect to see more widespread commercialization on that front? And how we should think about that in terms of milestone metrics and defining success in '22 and '23?

好的。其次，在支付方面，電子錢包的計費能力。您能否就您希望在這方面看到更廣泛的商業化的時間表向我們提供最新信息？以及我們應該如何從里程碑指標和定義 22 和 23 年的成功方面考慮這一點？

Yes. In terms of the road map schedule, we're on schedule. We plan to launch our VIZIO tools to the marketplace mid-summer this year. Right now, we have the Partner Portal open. So we're working directly with partners to integrate them into the system so that it's available for consumers.

是的。在路線圖時間表方面，我們按計劃進行。我們計劃在今年夏中向市場推出我們的 VIZIO 工具。現在，我們打開了合作夥伴門戶。因此，我們正在直接與合作夥伴合作，將它們集成到系統中，以便消費者可以使用。

We do expect that to help us not only generate a higher take rate but also create a better one-to-one relationship with our consumers. But I think we're -- we're really excited about with VIZIO (inaudible) it's kind of a foundational element or I would say, backbone of the future of television. And it's critical that we get Vizio (inaudible) on to the platform so that we could start to build those foundations as the future of TV comes about.

我們確實希望這不僅能幫助我們提高接受率，還能與我們的消費者建立更好的一對一關係。但我認為我們 - 我們對 VIZIO（聽不清）感到非常興奮，它是一種基礎元素，或者我會說，是電視未來的支柱。至關重要的是，我們將 Vizio（聽不清）放到平台上，這樣我們就可以在電視的未來到來時開始建立這些基礎。

Lastly, if I could. Yes, Scott, I was just going to say that it's going to take a little while to ramp that up. I'm excited that you're excited about us launching it as am I. But it will take a little while to get the word out. It will take a while for consumers to adopt it and begin to start transacting on it. So to Mike's more important point over the long term, having that foundational infrastructure in place is really the key. That allows us to expand a lot of different monetization opportunities and we're going to be building those out over time to come. But for the back half of this year, expect a modest ramp up, just to be conservative.

最後，如果可以的話。是的，斯科特，我只是想說這需要一點時間來提升它。我很高興你和我一樣對我們推出它感到興奮。但要宣傳它還需要一點時間。消費者需要一段時間才能採用它並開始對其進行交易。因此，從長遠來看，對於邁克來說更重要的一點是，擁有基礎設施確實是關鍵。這使我們能夠擴展許多不同的貨幣化機會，並且隨著時間的推移我們將建立這些機會。但對於今年下半年，預計會有適度的增長，只是保守一點。

Perfect. And Adam, just to wrap up, the Platform SmartCast is at scale now, but there are a lot of investable opportunities, whether it's payments, billing, Household Connect, other opportunities. So how should we think about your -- from a very high level, managing the EBITDA and profitability in that business in '22 and '23? I wonder if there are any metrics that we should be thinking about in terms of target EBITDA over the next couple of years?

完美的。最後，Adam，總結一下，SmartCast 平台現在規模化了，但有很多可投資的機會，無論是支付、計費、家庭連接，還是其他機會。那麼，我們應該如何看待你的——從一個非常高的層次，在 22 和 23 年管理該業務的 EBITDA 和盈利能力？我想知道在未來幾年的目標 EBITDA 方面，我們是否應該考慮任何指標？

Look, as I've said it before, we are in a growth phase and there's an opportunity here to get out and grab consumers and gain households. And so we are not in, what I would call, EBITDA maximization mode. We're in capability investment.

看，正如我之前所說，我們正處於增長階段，這裡有機會走出去抓住消費者並贏得家庭。因此，我們不處於我所說的 EBITDA 最大化模式。我們正在進行能力投資。

We're going to broaden the feature sets that we have on the units. We're going to devise tactics to gain market share and device sales. All of that collectively coming together to only control more households and help us drive long-term growth. So we are investing in personnel. We're adding more software development engineers. We're adding more capabilities throughout the organization to support this growth because we really think this is a transformative moment in the media space where being in the center of that and being already in a place where consumers are going around a connected, integrated Smart TV, the future is strong for us, so we need to make sure we can execute and have the right team to do it.

我們將擴大我們在單位上擁有的功能集。我們將製定策略來獲得市場份額和設備銷售。所有這些共同作用只會控制更多的家庭並幫助我們推動長期增長。因此，我們正在對人員進行投資。我們正在增加更多的軟件開發工程師。我們正在整個組織中增加更多的能力來支持這種增長，因為我們真的認為這是媒體領域的一個變革時刻，處於中心並且已經處於消費者正在使用連接的集成智能電視的地方，未來對我們來說是強大的，所以我們需要確保我們能夠執行並擁有合適的團隊來完成它。

Thanks, Scott, and thanks, everyone, for joining. This concludes today's call. Have a great evening.

謝謝斯科特，也謝謝大家的加入。今天的電話會議到此結束。有一個美好的夜晚。

Thank you for joining. This does conclude today's call. You may now disconnect your lines, and enjoy the rest of your day.

感謝您的加入。這確實結束了今天的電話會議。您現在可以斷開您的線路，享受剩下的一天。