Channel Summit META Celebrates the Region’s Best in Consumer Tech at 2025 Awards Ceremony
Channel Summit META 2025 wrapped up with a high-energy closing ceremony honouring the best and brightest across the region’s consumer technology channel. The annual awards programme, a key highlight of the summit, recognised top performers across vendor, distributor, executive leadership, and product launch categories — with winners selected through live voting by participating retail buyers.
Held at the Fairmont Bab Al Bahr, the invitation-only summit brought together nearly 500 senior decision-makers from the region’s leading tech retailers and distributors for 1.5 days of curated meetings, keynotes and networking — culminating in this celebration of the channel’s top performers.
“This year’s awards reflect the incredible breadth of innovation and execution happening across the region,” said Farouk Hemraj, Founder of ChannelHub, organiser of Channel Summit META. “From standout launches and sustainability initiatives to best-in-class retail execution, these winners represent the future of consumer technology in the Middle East and beyond.”
Celebrating Longstanding Partnerships
This year’s event also took a moment to acknowledge the long-standing relationships that have underpinned the success of Channel Summit META and its predecessor, DISTREE. Many of the attendees, sponsors, and partners have been part of this community for over two decades, supporting the original format and now championing its evolution into the modern Channel Summit platform.
“These relationships are the foundation of everything we’ve built,” Hemraj noted. “To have individuals who supported us during the early DISTREE years still standing with us today is not just humbling — it’s a testament to the strength and resilience of the channel itself and their faith in us.”
Ali Mohammad Akbar Khan, Country Head -Consumer Division at Mohsin Haider Darwish in Muscat commented, “It’s truly incredible to reflect on the journey from that first DISTREE event back in 2005—what an amazing ride it has been for the industry and for all of us who’ve been part of it from the start. I’m genuinely honored to be considered for this special tribute at Channel Summit META 2025. This recognition is deeply appreciated.”
Award Categories and Live Voting Format
This year’s awards included two application-based categories — Best Product Launch and Circular Initiative — while all other winners were determined via live voting by qualified buyers during the event. Categories were designed to reflect the diversity and dynamism of the regional tech retail market, with winners recognised for their product quality, channel engagement, business potential, and innovation.
Full List of Award winners
Best Vendor 2025
Appliance & Smart Home – Karcher
Audio & Entertainment – Canon
IT Peripherals & Computing – Hama
Lifestyle – Yango Yasmina
Mobile Products – Nothing
Best Distributor 2025
Broadline – Oskar
Lifestyle – Lime Concepts, and Shift (joint winners)
Retail Executive of the Year 2025:
Bahrain – Prince Mathew, Sharaf DG
Kuwait – Girish Kayanadath, Best Yousifi, & Babu Wasim, Lulu (joint winners)
Oman – Pradeep Kumar Dwivedi, Sharaf DG
Qatar – Sibi Karthikeyan, Lulu
Saudi Arabia – Babu Francis Tharakan, Lulu
UAE – Khaled Abbas, Carrefour & Sham Sunder, Emax (joint winners)
Best Product Launch 2025
Mobile Products – Jumbo for Nothing (3a) series on Jumbo Souq
IT & Computing – Sharaf DG for their Copilot+ PC launch
Home – Tornado for their 90cm cooker launch
Entertainment (Audio, Video, Gaming, Lifestyle) – Store 974 for their Aorus Master gaming laptops
Circular Initiative 2025 – Best Al Yousufi, Kuwait: The Best Renewal Hub ( BRH)
Recognising Innovation and Impact
The awards brought the event to a close on a high note, celebrating not just strong sales performance but also innovation, sustainability, and strategic leadership. From regional rollouts to circular economy efforts, the entries and winners reflect how the channel is evolving — and thriving — in an increasingly digital and customer-driven world.
Channel Summit META 2025 closed with close to 2000 scheduled and on-site one on one meetings, supported by headline sponsors Nothing, Hama, Lime Concepts, Yango, and Oskar. The event also featured presentations from Livebuy, Microsoft, GfK, and CONTEXT, alongside the launch of the Nothing CMF Phone 2 Pro and the release of a whitepaper by ChannelHub and Bellamy Alden on AI sales challenges in electronics retail.
Last Updated on 4 days by PR News Desk
