Belkin’s Steve Malony shares insights on localisation and sustainability

Having operated in the Middle East since 2010, Belkin has steadily grown its presence across the MEA region through consistent year-on-year performance, strategic retail partnerships, and a diversified product portfolio.

In this interview, Steve Malony, CEO of Belkin International, outlines the company’s evolving strategy in the region— from investing in local teams and prioritising sustainable packaging to launching products tailored to consumer needs and navigating an increasingly competitive accessories market.

Belkin has been a significant player in the MEA accessories market since 2006. Can you share specific figures that demonstrate the company’s growth trajectory in the region and your investment plans moving forward?

Belkin has been operating in the Middle East actively since 2010 and has achieved consistent triple-digit year-over-year growth since. We plan to overachieve on our goals by continuing this upward trajectory

Charging solutions, power banks, and audio products will drive most of the growth through new product introductions and expansion into under-indexed markets, alongside new customer acquisition as we expand the Belkin team in tandem.

Across the MEA region, Belkin’s sales have nearly doubled over the past  four-five years, with all major product categories (mobile power, connectivity, audio, device protection, KVM and future ventures) experiencing growth led by mobile power products at over 150 per cent growth.

We see great potential in this market, and we continue to innovate to meet these demands.  The consumer base here values premium quality and design, something which Belkin stands for.

This type of growth in a few years’ time suggests strong consumer demand and further growth potential — and reflects our commitment to quality, innovation, and strong partnerships.

With an expanding retail presence and strategic partnerships in the MEA region, what can you tell us about your new store openings and key collaborations that are helping Belkin penetrate the market more deeply?

Belkin operates and develops an interesting set of product categories. Everybody wants to have a charged device and a protected device, and we can bring these things to life with our partners — we have long standing relationships with our partners, and in the MEA region, this is meaningful and critically impactful to the business.

Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Kuwait are the countries that account for most of our business today, and Jarir, Xcite, Etisalat, Virgin stores and Dubai Duty Free are a few of our most strategic retailers.

Our strategy includes both offline and online experiences especially in times where digitization and transformation are at its peak. In fact, we are seeing strong growth in the digital space as well.

Our resilience in adapting to the dynamic e-commerce landscape continues to strengthen our brand’s position despite the logistic and regulatory compliance challenges. Amazon UAE revenue experienced triple digit growth in the past five years, becoming a key contributor to high GP margin.

Belkin has always emphasised meeting the needs of local consumers. Could you provide some examples of how the company is adapting its products and services to cater to the demands of the MEA market?

Sustainability is one of our three north stars, and it’s an essential consideration in everything we do. Our team of in-house engineers monitor environmental protection regulations in the regions we are sold in to ensure our ongoing efforts are aligned with those at a local level.

In early 2023, Belkin announced its transition to new product packaging that is 100 per cent single use plastic free where possible, to reduce landfill waste and encourage recycling and circularity. This accelerated our reduction efforts to a 63 per cent global reduction in plastic packaging since 2019 — more than doubling our five-year goal of a 25 per cent reduction.

So, when Dubai issued Executive Council Resolution No (124) in December 2023, which includes a ban on single use plastic bags and other packaging items, Belkin was already aligned with this decision to phase out plastic and we were able to seamlessly fall into line with this activity.

Sustainability and positive economic impact are important priorities for Belkin. How does the company contribute to local job creation, and what sustainability initiatives are you currently focused on in the MEA region?

At Belkin, our three north stars are people, planet and product — we invest in our people, and having the right team on board is crucial to our success. Creating jobs in the region and adding to the Belkin team locally is an essential component to our growth strategy. In the past five years, we have doubled the size of our team in the UAE.

Announced earlier this year, several of Belkin’s most popular chargers and cables will receive updated product housing materials that consist of 85-90 per cent PCR in line with our public commitment to find more responsible ways to build products. The new accessories will be certified by the Global Recycling Standard and sold in plastic-free packaging. This initiative is estimated to reduce CO₂-eq emissions for these product housing materials by up to 85 per cent.  We are currently at 72-75 per cent PCR materials which we are incredibly proud of.

We also recently announced that Belkin was awarded a Silver Medal rating from EcoVadis, the globally recognized leader in sustainability ratings. This recognition reflects the company’s ongoing dedication to responsible business practices and positions us among the top-performing companies in the consumer electronics sector evaluated by EcoVadis. Belkin’s overall score ranks in the top 15 per cent globally (91^st Percentile).

We are committed to achieving carbon neutrality in scope 1 and scope 2 emissions by the end of 2025. The next challenge is scope 3 emissions, which requires a comprehensive understanding of our entire supply chain. We are using various tools to achieve this, and we expect to be carbon neutral in scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions by 2030. It’s a difficult challenge, but it’s a core principle that drives our decision-making.

Looking ahead, what is Belkin’s future vision for the MEA market, and how does that align with your global strategy?

Charging solutions, power banks, and audio products will drive most of the growth through new product introductions and expansion into under-indexed markets, alongside new customer acquisition.

We anticipate higher wattage wireless charging in the second half of this year, which will unlock new use cases. We expect growth to come from the ongoing transition from wired to wireless charging. Cables will remain a core part of our business, and we expect that to grow as well. In our audio category we offer a compelling value proposition with products like our kids’ lineup and Isolate, which features noise cancellation.

Travel Retail expansion remains a priority, with ongoing negotiations for seven new branded spaces across Dubai terminals in partnership with Dubai Duty Free (DDF). New agreements are in progress with DnR (Turkey airports) and Lagardère (Saudi).  And we’re seeing exciting growth in emerging markets like Egypt, Morocco, and Iraq — which represent the most under-indexed regions. Each are expected to generate high triple digit growth. Iraq has become a critical part of our strategic growth plan, with impressive triple digit sales growth since 2020.

Additionally, we are focusing on expansion in the telco segment, which includes strengthening our existing partnership with Etisalat while targeting new collaborations with Saudi Telecom and Turk Telekom.

We are placing a focus on enhancing major retailer web platforms, which remains a key growth priority. We will also shift from continuous promotions to targeted campaigns leveraging in-store activations, online engagement, and CRM-driven initiatives to enhance consumer traffic and behaviour.

We always try to meet consumers where they are. For example, I visited The Dubai Mall on my recent trip to the region, and I saw there is no slowing down in the need of people going in to see products and learn. I also saw that people were on their phones, maybe pre-shopping. We want to ensure we are hitting all the relevant touchpoints to ensure consumers can access the Belkin products they need most, when they need them.

Are there any upcoming product launches or investments that will further enhance your presence and innovation in the region?

Since 2020, nearly 10M units of Belkin products were shipped in the Middle East, Turkey and African countries. The top growth drivers in products shipped in region are mobile cable accessories, power banks, wall chargers, and audio products.

Looking forward, the region can expect faster wireless charging options, content creation products that help to simplify and make the category more accessible to all, mobile gaming ecosystem additions, and sustainability updates that bring us up to 90 per cent PCR in our product housing without any compromise in quality and safety —with more developments to come.

A personal product highlight is the recently announced Auto Tracking Stand Pro, which integrates hardware, firmware, and software and uses Apple’s DockKit technology for facial recognition. This allows users to stay in frame during video calls, classes, or cooking demonstrations. This is just one step in our content creation journey.

As the tech industry continues to grow, what are some of the biggest challenges Belkin faces in the MEA region, and how is the company overcoming them to stay competitive and innovative?

The product lifecycle for device accessories is fast and there is a proliferation of cheap competitors that have flooded the market. How we face this is both a challenge and an opportunity — Belkin stays true to its mission of producing accessories that stand for quality, safety and sustainability. We know through over 40 years of experience that doing the right thing while staying smart and agile is the best way forward.

We believe the Middle East is on the precipice of a new era of growth and if we can identify and execute, it’s an exciting time for innovation and technology.

What sets us apart from other accessories manufacturers is our in-house capabilities — we have state-of-the-art lab spaces and design facilities at our global headquarters, where our dedicated design and engineering teams can ideate, prototype, test in real-time to bring to market innovative, quality, thoroughly tested products.  Alongside this, our rich decades-long relationships with the world’s largest OEMs and chip manufacturers help to position us an industry leader—a role we take very seriously.

Technology is evolving rapidly, especially in the connectivity sector. What are the current tech trends you’re observing in the MEA market, and how is Belkin positioning itself to address these developments?

Belkin has a 40 plus-year legacy in the device accessories market.  Because we have often been part of the founding class of tech transitions helping to set new protocols, we totally embrace these evolutions and are able to prepare for them well before the rest of the market.

There are certain growth categories like mobile charging, content creation and audio where we see people caring about the combination of value and quality.

I recently had the great honour of speaking on a panel in Web Summit Qatar alongside Microsoft and Meta executives. We dove into the big corporate tech trends and predictions for 2025. Last year provided a striking preview of AI’s transformative potential. Now, the challenge is not just understanding these advancements but integrating them effectively into business strategy. We want to be on the good side of what it can deliver. AI will help us to achieve our sustainability goals bring additional hardware to product — and the potential of that is very exciting.