SECTORS / GICS-452030

IT Hardware · IT Hardware & Devices

Hardware firms blend manufacturing operations (Scope 1+2) with use-phase emissions of sold products (Scope 3 cat 11). Per-revenue intensity is the legacy industry reference; per-OpEx removes margin distortion.

Companies tracked

Phase 1 cohort

With SBTi target

1/ 1

100% coverage

Median operational intensity

140.29tCO2e / $m OpEx

from 1 firms · USD-normalised

Reporting years

2020–2026

latest disclosed per firm

SBTi coverage

of 1 firms

Where this sector sits globally

Median operational intensity (Carbon / USDm OpEx) per sector · log scale · click any dot to switch

8 sectors · this sector 140.3

100

1.0k

10k

↑ IT Hardware (n=1) · 140.29

← cleanest: Consulting (29.6)dirtiest: Real Estate Services (2.4k) →

Key carbon drivers

Use of sold products
Lifetime energy of devices in customers' hands. Typically the single largest bucket.
Scope 3 · cat 11
Purchased goods & services
Components, semiconductors, batteries, plastics, packaging from tier-1+ suppliers.
Scope 3 · cat 1
Capital goods
Manufacturing equipment, semiconductor fabs, tooling.
Scope 3 · cat 2
Manufacturing operations
Own factories — process energy, purchased electricity, refrigerants.
Scope 1 + 2
End-of-life
E-waste, recycling, disposal at product end-of-life.
Scope 3 · cat 12

Scope references follow the GHG Protocol Corporate Standard + Scope 3 Standard.

Reference transition plan

SBTi ICT sector pathway

SBTi has an ICT-specific 1.5°C-aligned pathway covering hardware, networking, software and data centres. CDP supply-chain engagement is the de facto Scope 3 disclosure mechanism for tier-1+ vendor reporting.

Reference ↗Full pathway →

Sector benchmarks · headline intensities

Per-company latest year · USD-normalised at 12-month average rates · snapshot 2026-05-05

1 firms in cohort

Each strip shows where every firm in the cohort sits on one intensity axis. Lower is better — left of the strip is best, right is worst. Each peer dot tooltips its value and the year it came from. Financial denominators are converted to USD before computing so cross-currency comparisons are apples-to-apples.

Revenue intensity

Carbon / USDm revenue

n=1 · median 131.70 · IQR 131.70–131.70

0.00

103

124

145

Production-based · 58–58

median 131.70

Operational intensity

Carbon / USDm OpEx

n=1 · median 140.29 · IQR 140.29–140.29

0.00

110

132

154

median 140.29

Economic intensity

Carbon / USDm EVIC

n=1 · median 120.08 · IQR 120.08–120.08

0.00

113

132

median 120.08

Asset intensity

Carbon / USDm PP&E + leased

n=1 · median 1627.22 · IQR 1627.22–1627.22

0.00

256

511

767

1.0k

1.3k

1.5k

1.8k

median 1627.22

Companies · 1 firms

+ Add company

RVB ID	Company	Ticker	Subtype	HQ	Revenue	Operational	Economic	Asset	Sources
RVBA-DELL	Dell Technologies	DELL	Computer Hardware	United States	131.70	140.29	120.08	1627.22	SBTiCDPReport

Reference carbon factors · IT Hardware

Authoritative benchmark factors curated from published sources. Citation-anchored · pre-pilot vintage · refreshed manually as new releases land.

Below sit every reference factor relevant to a it hardware firm. Use these as starting points when you need to estimate emissions for a category the cohort doesn't disclose, or to spot-check disclosed figures against the consensus range. Each value is anchored to the published source — click any source slug to open the citation.

Factors curated

Sources

Spend-based (per currency unit) 2 categories · 4 factors

Multiply spend (in the stated currency, in the stated reference year) by the factor to estimate kgCO2e for that category of procurement. Spend-based factors carry material uncertainty but are useful when you have no activity data.

Computer manufacturing, spend-based

1.3× spread

Value	Unit	Geo	Year	Scope	Source	Notes
0.0580 0.0350 – 0.0900	kgCO2e/USD	US	2022	Cradle → gate S1 · S2 loc · S3↑	useeio_v1_3 purchaser · USD 2022	USEEIO commodity 334111. NAICS 334111. Purchaser price (with margins). Multiply 2022 USD spend × value to get kgCO2e.
0.0458 0.0277 – 0.0711	kgCO2e/GBP	US	2022	Cradle → gate S1 · S2 loc · S3↑	useeio_v1_3 purchaser · GBP 2022	USEEIO commodity 334111, converted USD→GBP at static rate (0.79). For production, recompute with the accounting-period FX rate.

Laptop, sector average

1.1× spread

Value	Unit	Geo	Year	Scope	Source	Notes
280 150 – 500	kgCO2e/unit	GLOBAL	2024	Cradle → grave	boavizta_2025	Mean across common business laptop SKUs in the Boavizta database. Wide range reflects screen size, RAM/SSD config, and manufacturer methodology differences.
300 200 – 400	kgCO2e/unit	GLOBAL	2024	Cradle → grave S3↑	boavizta_2025	Use when you have a count of laptops but not the SKUs. Wide uncertainty band (±33%).

Product unit 5 categories · 10 factors

Per-product-unit factors (e.g. one laptop, one kg of milk). Use for purchased goods — multiply by units procured.

Apple MacBook Air 13" M3

1.9× spread

Value	Unit	Geo	Year	Scope	Source	Notes
150 120 – 200	kgCO2e/unit	GLOBAL	2024	Cradle → grave	boavizta_2025
283 230 – 330	kgCO2e/unit	GLOBAL	2024	Cradle → grave S3↑	boavizta_2025	PER published for the 15" M3; 13" assumed marginally lower. Post-mitigation figure Apple publishes is 158 kg.

Apple MacBook Pro 16" M3 Max

1.2× spread

Value	Unit	Geo	Year	Scope	Source	Notes
430 320 – 540	kgCO2e/unit	GLOBAL	2024	Cradle → grave	boavizta_2025	Manufacturing typically ~75% of total. Use-phase depends on assumed grid mix.
506 400 – 650	kgCO2e/unit	GLOBAL	2023	Cradle → grave S3↑	boavizta_2025	Apple PER (Product Environmental Report). Baseline manufacturing emissions before Apple applies low-carbon manufacturing electricity netting. Use this for cross-vendor comparison. The 4-yr-use assumption and US grid mix are baked in.

Dell Latitude 7440

1.2× spread

Value	Unit	Geo	Year	Scope	Source	Notes
355 208 – 703	kgCO2e/unit	GLOBAL	2023	Cradle → grave S3↑	boavizta_2025	Manufacturing 89%, Use 7.5%, Transport 3.1%, EoL 0.4%. Wide uncertainty band reflects PAIA Monte-Carlo run.
290 200 – 400	kgCO2e/unit	GLOBAL	2024	Cradle → grave	boavizta_2025	Dell uses PAIA. ±50% uncertainty per Dell PCF disclaimers.

HP EliteBook 840 G11

1.4× spread

Value	Unit	Geo	Year	Scope	Source	Notes
280 190 – 380	kgCO2e/unit	GLOBAL	2024	Cradle → grave	boavizta_2025
200 150 – 280	kgCO2e/unit	GLOBAL	2024	Cradle → grave S3↑	boavizta_2025	Mainboard 41% / SSD 20% / Display 20% of manufacturing emissions. Use-phase 23% is notably higher than Apple/Dell because NA grid is dirtier than EU.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12

1.1× spread

Value	Unit	Geo	Year	Scope	Source	Notes
285 226 – 383	kgCO2e/unit	GLOBAL	2022	Cradle → grave S3↑	boavizta_2025	Mean 285, std dev 59, 95th percentile 383. US use-phase assumed.
250 170 – 350	kgCO2e/unit	GLOBAL	2024	Cradle → grave	boavizta_2025

Reference factors are curated from the published sources at the indicated vintage and refreshed manually as new releases land. Apply with care: spend-based factors carry material uncertainty (often ±50%); activity-based factors require the right unit basis (e.g. gross vs net CV for natural gas, with-RF vs without-RF for air); product PCFs differ in lifecycle scope between vendors (Apple uses post-mitigation, others use pre-mitigation — we have aligned to pre-mitigation baselines for laptops). Re-check against the citation before any external-facing calculation.