Keith D. Jackson
Analyst · Deutsche Bank
Thanks, Bernard. Let me start with laying out priorities for ON Semiconductor for 2014 and then I will address the overall business environment and various end markets. For 2014, there are 3 main objectives for us: First, we have to realize our full cash flow generation potential; second, we should accelerate our momentum and targeted growth segments of automobile, smartphones and select areas of industrial; and third, complete the transition of SSG to be accretive to our consolidated results on a sustained basis. Now let me expand on each of these objectives, starting with our capacity to generate substantial free cash flow. We believe that in a normal growth environment for the semiconductor industry, ON Semiconductor can generate annual free cash flow of approximately $300 million to $400 million in the near to mid-term. We define free cash flow as a net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditure. We characterize year-over-year growth of low- to mid-single-digit percentage points as normal growth for the industry in the current macro environment -- economic environment. This growth, coupled with margin expansion, substantial progress in restructuring activities related to our SSG and lower working capital requirements, are the key contributors to our improved free cash flow outlook. Moving on, in 2014, we are aiming for mid to high single-digit growth in our targeted segments of automobiles, smartphones and select areas of the industrial end markets. We have made substantial investments in these markets over the last few years, and our design wins have now started to convert to revenue. Specific product lines that should drive growth in 2014 include intelligent power modules, autofocus and image stabilization and motor drivers from the System Solutions Group, ESD protection, common mode filters, automotive-related products and power conversion products from the Standard Products Group and in-vehicle networking, LED lighting, power management for mobile devices and applications for smart homes from our Applications Products Group. Lastly, in 2014, System Solutions Group should achieve a cost structure to deliver sustained profitability and we expect this group to be accretive to our earnings in 2014. Now let me address the current business trends. The overall business environment continues to improve steadily, as evident in our improved order rates. Macroeconomic environment, especially in developed economies, continues to improve. We have not yet seen any negative impact on our business from recent trepidations in the global financial markets, but we remain cautious. For the fourth quarter, our lead times declined by less than a week as we eliminated supply constraints in a few areas. We expect lead times to remain at the current levels. In the fourth quarter, our global factory utilization was in the mid 80% range as compared to the high 80% range for the third quarter. Utilization declined in the fourth quarter due to holidays-related shutdowns of our manufacturing facilities. Now I'll provide some details of the progress on our various end markets. The automotive end market represented approximately 27% of revenue in the fourth quarter and was up by approximately 4% quarter-over-quarter. Revenue in the fourth quarter were driven by robust increases in every region, with the exception of Japan. The strength was broad based across product lines, but was most notable in protection, power MOSFET, drivers, ignition IGBTs and switch mode power supply solutions. We continue to experience solid growth within our focused customer base, especially in front-lighting applications, in which our LED driver and motor control solutions are supporting new vehicle releases in Europe. In the Americas, our rear lighting solutions continue to be adopted by several key OEMs across a broad range of vehicle offerings. Key design wins for the quarter included a significant power driver win for a seat control at a key industry leader. Also, our integrated power module solutions have been selected by leading Japanese motor manufacturers for use in drive fans and pumps in European and Japanese vehicles. As a testimonial to our strength in the automotive market, I am pleased to announce that ON Semiconductor received the Supplier Quality Excellence Award for 2013 from General Motors. Revenue for the first quarter for our automotive segment is expected to be up quarter-over-quarter. The communications end market, which includes both networking and wireless, represented approximately 18% of revenue in the fourth quarter, down approximately 4% quarter-over-quarter. The sequential decline was driven by a broad-based inventory correction in the smartphone market. During 2013, our wireless-related revenue grew approximately 10% year-over-year. We continue to gain market share with our battery protection, battery chargers, protection devices, filtering and power management ICs. Traction remains strong for our autofocus and image stabilization products. Also, we saw strong demand in smartphones and base station applications for many of our standard components, such as protection devices, EEPROMs in chip scale packages, high precision LDOs, logic, operational amplifiers and discrete devices. Revenue for the first quarter for our communications segment is expected to be down quarter-over-quarter due to normal seasonality. The consumer end market represented approximately 20% of revenue in the fourth quarter and was up approximately 2% as compared to the third quarter. During the quarter, we saw strong demand for our intelligent power modules in the consumer white goods. We also had strong orders for our standard products and power management devices, driven by volume production ramps of next-generation gaming systems, wearable electronics, portable video cameras, digital media players, LCD televisions and white goods. Also, we captured a significant growth opportunity in white goods with 2 key design wins, including our first design win with a key European customer. Revenue for the first quarter in our consumer segment is expected to be down quarter-over-quarter due to seasonality. Our industrial end market, which includes military, aerospace and medical, represented approximately 20% of revenue in the fourth quarter and was down approximately 2% quarter-over-quarter. Timing of shipments in our medical business and softness in certain areas of our military and aerospace business contributed to the quarter-over-quarter decline. During the fourth quarter, we saw ramps for our newest ASICs for both medical and mil/aero applications, ranging from ultrasound equipment and diagnostic monitors to aerospace engine control and military guidance applications. Products for mobile point-of-sale equipment also remained stronger in the fourth quarter. We secured our first motor control design win in North America for one of our intelligent power module solutions. During the fourth quarter, we secured multiple design wins from medical industry leaders for custom products, which integrate medical-grade discretes and miniature system package solutions. Also, our new image sensor was selected by a leading manufacturer of high-speed digital imaging systems. Revenue for the first quarter for our industrial segment is expected to be up quarter-over-quarter. The computing end market represented approximately 15% of revenue in the fourth quarter and was up approximately 1% compared to the third quarter. VCore power management share gains on Haswell notebook platforms contributed to above-market performance in computing segment during the fourth quarter, as this new platform ramped into volume production. We experienced strong growth in MOSFET revenue from several motherboard and hard disk drive manufacturers. Revenue for the first quarter for our computing segment is expected to be down quarter-over-quarter due to seasonality. In other news, I am pleased to announce our NCP6338 processor power converter for smartphones and tablets won the Leading Power Devices and Module Award from EDN China. Now I'd like to turn it back over to Bernard for other comments and our other forward-looking guidance. Bernard?