Major PC hardware vendors outscore Apple in avoiding conflict materials: Study

A number of major PC vendors have outscored Apple in proactively avoiding materials sourced from conflict zones, according to a new study.

The Enough Project study, republished by Tom’s Hardware, rates major electronics firms out of 100 based on the degree to which their hardware avoids using minerals originating from violent rebel gangs in the civil war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Intel received the highest score of the companies surveyed with 60 out of 100, with leading PC makers HP (54), Philips (48), Acer (40), Dell (40) all coming out ahead of Apple. Also ahead of the Mac-maker were major tech firms Sandisk (48), AMD (44) and BlackBerry-maker RIM (42).

In contrast, Apple scored 38, equal with Microsoft, in a result that should give some of the company’s more socially conscious consumers pause for thought.

However, Apple remains ahead of many of its competitors, including Google/Motorola (35), Nokia (35), Panasonic (33), IBM (27), LG (27), Samsung (27), Sony (27), Toshiba (21) and Lenovo (17). Nintendo scored zero in the study.