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DUBAI, PARIS, SAO PAULO, LONDON and MOSCOW – Digital Consumer Channel (DCC) Middle East & Africa (MEA), the region’s premier conference for the ICT & consumer electronics (CE) retail channel, is pleased to announce that it will once again host the ‘Middle East Retail Academy (MERA): 2011 Awards’ during this year’s event. MERA is an independent body comprising senior executives from retailers, distributors and vendors operating in the MEA retail channel. MERA members contribute feedback for a Monthly Monitor Report (MMR) on the health of the market – a service that has now been running for more than 18 months. The wealth of data accumulated through the MMR service has now been incorporated into the planning for the ‘MERA: 2011 Awards’.
Farouk Hemraj, CEO at DISTREE Events, explained some of the changes: “Now in their fourth year, the MERA Awards have established a reputation for transparency and independence, reflecting real achievements in the retail channel. We have used the data supplied to us by retailers, and distributors during the last 12 months to compile the list of nominated companies for this year’s vendor awards.”
In total, there are 11 vendor award categories with five nominees per category. Hundreds of senior retail executives will determine the overall winner in each product category through a live electronic vote during the ‘MERA: 2011 Awards’ Gala Dinner on May 18th in Fujairah, UAE, at DCC MEA 2011. The vendor nominations for the ‘MERA: 2011 Awards’ listed in alphabetical order per category are as follows:
- Desktop/Notebook/Netbook/ Tablet: Acer, Dell, HP, Samsung, Sony
- Digital Lifestyle: Apple, Canon, Merlin, Samsung, Sony
- Accessories: Belkin, Genius, Logitech, Microsoft, Promate
- Imaging: Canon, Kodak, Nikon, Samsung, Sony
- Printing: Brother, Canon, Epson, HP, Samsung
- Storage: Imation, Iomega, Sandisk, Seagate, WD
- Home Networking: Belkin, D-Link, Edimax, Linksys, Netgear
- Gaming: EA, Logitech, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony
- Mobile Communications: Apple, Blackberry, HTC, Nokia, Samsung
- TVs: LG, Panasonic, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba
- Software: Adobe, Kaspersky, Microsoft, Sage, Symantec
In total, 38 vendors have been shortlisted for the ‘MERA: 2011 Awards’ with Samsung and Sony leading the way with six and five nominations respectively. Canon and Microsoft both received three nominations with Apple, Belkin, HP and Logitech all appearing in two categories. The remaining 30 vendors received a nomination in a single category.
“Receiving a nomination is a huge achievement for all vendors and recognises their performance in the retail channel throughout the last 12 months,” added Hemraj. “We congratulate all of the nominated companies and look forward to welcoming their representatives to the ‘MERA: 2011 Awards’ Gala Dinner on the evening of May 18th.”
Delegates at DCC MEA receive complimentary access to the ‘MERA: 2011 Awards’ as part of their participation package. Belkin and Intel are now confirmed as Platinum Sponsor of DCC MEA with Dell, Kaspersky, Lenovo and Nokia all participating as Gold Sponsors. Asbis, Cisco Flip, Dicota, ITE Distribution and Navteq are this year’s Silver Sponsors. DCC MEA is an all-encompassing event, serving the needs of the largest retailers through to independent stores. Similarly, vendors at different levels of business development in MEA, all benefit from attending the event.
