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LUXSHARE PRECISION

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Founded in 2004, the China-based consumer electronics manufacturer Luxshare Precision has rapidly grown to become a key player in the global electronics supply chain.

The turning point for the company came in 2011, when Apple awarded Luxshare its first manufacturing contract. Over the next decade, the company progressively moved up Apple’s value chain. From initially supplying connector cables for the iPhone and Macbook to becoming the primary producer of the Apple AirPods.

Luxshare is arguably an indispensable contractor to Apple, having supplied 13% of Apple’s cost of goods sold in FY22.¹ Luxshare’s success is also intimately tied to its favor with Apple, having derived over 70% of its revenues from the tech giant over the last financial year.

During the last fiscal year, Luxshare’s relationship with Apple exceeded US$29billion, almost a tenfold increase since 2018.

Source: Bloomberg data
Data sourced from 2022 Luxshare Precision Sustainability Report 2022 and 2021 Luxshare Precision Sustainability Report

PROBLEM

In spite of this success, Luxshare’s rapid rate of expansion and profitability has been outpaced by its growth in operational emissions. In the five-year period from 2018, Scope 1 and 2 emissions increased 568% whereas earnings rose 497%. GHG emissions intensity also deteriorated from 7.42 to 8.3 tonnes/millions in sales revenue.² Luxshare has however taken some minor yet important steps forward. In 2022, the company announced it would achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In May this year, Luxshare further committed to achieving 50% clean energy use by 2025.

SOLUTION

Luxshare Precision needs to commit to 100% renewable energy by 2030. And it can be done. In Luxshare’s most recent sustainability report, the company suggested that it intended to complete the development of carbon reduction targets in line with Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) 1.5 degree pathways in 2023. Committing to 1.5℃ aligned SBTi targets and having these targets verified should be a priority.

Companies such as Tencent, GDS and Chinadata have already committed to short-term 100% renewable energy targets and China has invested heavily in the construction of large scale wind and solar. In fact, China’s operating solar capacity has reached 228 GW — more than the rest of the world combined.

The burden of decarbonizing Apple’s supply chain cannot solely fall on the shoulders of its suppliers. Especially since Apple has positioned itself as a climate leader in the tech industry, and manufacturing represents over 70% of the emissions related to producing Apple products.

Apple is culpable for its entire carbon footprint. Whilst Apple has undertaken some worthwhile initiatives to support its suppliers, it clearly needs to scale up its supplier support and renewable investments if it is to meet its well-publicized sustainability goals.

New analysis from the New Climate Institute reveals some key weaknesses of Apple’s Supplier Clean Energy Program. Apple’s carbon neutrality target for 2030 only covers electricity from Apple’s share of suppliers’ production. Consequently, “this may significantly limit the impact of Apple’s renewable electricity target for suppliers, since suppliers may reallocate the renewable portion of their electricity between contractors, and Apple could claim the renewable share and shift the emissions intensity to other contractors . . . The supply chain target would be considerably stronger if Apple would aim for its suppliers to be operating on 100% renewable energy, rather than just allocating the renewable part of its electricity mix to Apple output.”

TAKE ACTION

Download our briefing to learn how Luxshare can transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030.

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