HTC 2015 Annual Report Download - page 55

Corporate governance
Corporate governance
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(3) Supply chain partners
Suppliers are vital to the continued success of HTC and are also important partners in supporting our
sustainable development. HTC is committed to fairness and legal compliance in all its conduct towards both
consumers and suppliers and has invested consistently in building a win-win partnership with suppliers
through mutual sharing, learning, and growth.
HTC was founded in Taiwan and is a Taiwanese company whose operations and procurement drives
developments of related sectors. Except for certain key parts and components, HTC’s general procurement
policy is to use raw materials and equipment originating in Taiwan to the greatest extent possible. We not
only require our suppliers to provide quality services and products, but also measure our supply chain
against stringent ethical and environmental standards.
HTCjoinedtheElectronicIndustryCitizenshipCoalition(EICC)inDecember,2012,anddrewuptheHTC
SupplierCodeofConductbasedonthecodeofconductissuedbyEICC.Apartfromrequiringsuppliers
to sign the HTC Supplier Code of Conduct, HTC also implemented CSR compliance audits for high-risk
suppliers in accordance with the “HTC Supplier Code of Conduct” and relevant regulations governing
supplier factories. The audits cover labor rights, labor conditions, environment, health and safety, integrity
and ethics as well as the operation of related management systems. Apart from on-site audits, the HTC audit
team also plays the role of consultant. Suppliers are provided with the latest information on labor conditions,
environment, health and safety with a view to elevating them to first-rate sustainable suppliers.
In2012,theissueofConictMineralswasincludedinoursupplierCSRaudits.Onthepurchaseofmineral
ores, HTC supports the use of non-conflict minerals; HTC and our suppliers do everything possible to ensure
that metals such as Gold (Au), Tantalum (Ta), Tin (Sn) and Tungsten (W) used by HTC do not come from
mines located in the conflict region of the Congo Republic.
HTCsupportstheU.S.“Dodd-FrankWallStreetReformandConsumerProtectionAct”(H.R.4173).Wehave
alsojoinedthejointminingtaskforcesetupbytheEICCaswellastheGlobale-SustainabilityInitiative
(GeSI),andplantoparticipateintheEICC/GeSIconict-freesmelterprogram.AtHTC,werequiresuppliers
to conform with our conflict mineral purchasing policy to reduce the use of conflict minerals. HTC requires
supplierstosigna“ConictMineralsSurveyForm”anda“Conict-FreeMaterialAssuranceLetter”aspart
of our supplier CSR management process.
AccordingtoareportbyFriendsoftheEarth(FoE),tinminingonIndonesia’sBangkaIslandhasdamaged
human rights and the environment. HTC conducted an investigation of our tier-1 supply chain in response to
this international environmental movement and found that while there was no direct use, there were some
indirectsourcesthatcamefromthetinmineonBangkaIsland.
We will therefore accept the responsibility for supply chain management and require our suppliers to avoid
itsuse.Indonesiahoweverisamajorsupplieroftinoreandcompletenon-usemaynotbeavoidable.HTC
has now taken action by requiring suppliers to sign declarations of non-use. Even if they do use ore from
tinminesonBangkaIsland,itmustbefromminesthatdonotexploitworkers,usechildlabororcause
environmental damage. HTC is committed to taking responsibility for helping to fix the devastating impact
on the environment and people caused by tin mining in order to ensure the sustainable development of the
environment.
HTC will continue to push for responsible ore purchasing and look forward to our suppliers communicating
our conflict mineral-free purchasing policy to upstream suppliers.
(4) Environmental protection
4.1 Green products
We go far beyond applicable laws and regulations in the design and development of our sustainable
products. Every stage of the process is given full Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) evaluation, and we break
downtheprocessintoverydetailedparts,togiveourR&Dteamacompletepictureofthecomplicated
environmental considerations. We endeavor to minimize harm to the environment while making
devices that will satisfy our consumers’ needs. To achieve this, we strive, from the earliest design and
development stages, to select materials for production with low environmental risk and to exclude all
internationally restricted substances. We work diligently to reduce the use of environmentally harmful
substances, to increase recyclability, improve the reuse of resources, and reduce the adverse eects our
products have on the environment.
4.1.1 Sustainable design
HTC’s sustainable design concept for products mainly emphasize three areas: (1) Enhancement
ofenergyeciency,(2)Recyclability,and(3)Reductionofhazardoussubstanceswiththeserious
intentiontomakeourproductstruly‘green’andcompetitive.
a) Enhancement of energy eciency
Byapplyingthelifecycleconcepttoelectroniccommunicationsproducts,ouranalysisofthecarbon
footprint for mobile phone has found that the manufacturing process emits most of the greenhouse
gases. We concentrate on energy-saving from the early design and research and development
phase. All power supplies used for HTC products must comply with the relevant international
energy consumption specifications, including Energy Star (U.S.), California Energy Commission
(U.S.),Energy-relatedProductsandareapprovedwithenergyeciencyvericationbythird-
partyvericationcompanies.Moreover,thestandbypowerofthepowersuppliersusedformodels
promotedfrom2013mayfurtherachieve0.03W,theminimumenergyconsumptioncriterion.
HTC’sR&Dteamhasdevelopedexcellentpowermanagementmodelsthatallowphonestoenter
power saving standby mode in accordance with usage habits of consumers to prolong battery
life. Some host models are equipped with ambient light detection systems to activate automatic
backlightsourceadjustmentfunctionofLCDinrelationtotheoperatingenvironment;which
facilitates comfortable reading environments, while also achieving energy savings and carbon
reduction.
TheHTCOneM9utilized1.5Acharger,whichhashigherenergyeciency,andchargingprogram
for system optimization, so that unnecessary functions are turned o automatically during
charging, for phones to enter standby mode with lower energy consumption so that unnecessary
powerconsumptionisreduced.Bymeansofcontinuousmeasurementandimprovementofenergy
consumption,theHTCOneM9consumesonly0.2W(powerdownstate)instandbymodewhen
users unplug the phone after completing charging, and accordingly, improves energy consumption
by16%eectivelyincomparisonwiththeHTCOneM8.