Phonak

Brand Profile: Phonak Hearing Aids

Phonak is the flagship brand of Sonova, the world’s biggest hearing-aid manufacturer. Headquartered in Switzerland, Phonak distributes its products worldwide, providing a broad range of hearing instruments for all degrees of hearing loss across all price-performance classes and form factors.

In October 2010, Phonak introduced its next-generation technology platform at the International Congress of Hearing Aid Acousticians (EUHA) in Hannover, Germany. The new “Spice Generation” platform is based on a new digital signal processor (DSP) that is twice as fast with twice the processing power and three times more memory than the company’s previous DSP platform. The Spice platform also features new “Target” fitting software that makes it easier than ever to program hearing aids to patients’ exact hearing profiles. At the same time, Phonak introduced two new hearing aid lines based on the new Spice technology: — “Ambra” hearing aids that are the new performance leaders for Phonak, and an update to the popular Phonak Audeo of CRT (canal-receiver technology) hearing aids. The company in January also introduced its entry- and mid-level hearing aids, Cassia and Solana, as well as the Phonak CROS solution for single-sided deafness:

• Phonak Ambra hearing aids are the new premium performance flagship product family for the brand. Phonak Ambra hearing aids feature wireless binaural communication, adaptive intelligence algorithms, user-friendly ergonomics and new “ContourDesign” styling.
• Phonak Cassia and Solana hearing aids are entry- and mid-range hearing aids that deliver much of the premium functionality enabled by the Spice Generation chipset.
• Phonak Audéo S hearing aids update the company’s popular Audéo CRT (canal-receiver technology) family. The Audéo family features three new designs with three performance and power options.
• Phonak CROS and biCROS are the company’s new, flexible solution for people suffering from single-sided deafness.

Phonak Hearing Aid Products

Phonak Hearing Aids Meet Broad Spectrum Of User Needs (Source: Sonova January 2011)

In addition to its hearing aids, Phonak is a leading provider of wireless communication systems for audiology applications (FM systems) and for professionals working in the tourism, television, security and other fields. Phonak also is a leader in the rapidly growing market for consumer, industrial and military hearing protection solutions.

Recent Posts About Phonak Hearing Aids

Phonak Shrinks Lyric Invisible Hearing Aid And Improves Fit To Increase The Number Who Can Use It

Phonak announced it has shrunk its Lyric invisible hearing aids and improved the fit to make it accessible to 50 percent more consumers. The Lyric hearing aids meet the needs of people with mild to moderate hearing loss who are looking for a completely invisible hearing solution.

Placed deeply within the ear canal by an audiologist, the Lyric hearing aid is worn day and night for up to four months, when its battery expires and is replaced by the audiologist. The new size makes it easier to fit a larger number of consumers.

“I like to compare Lyric to the contact lens: just wear it and forget about it,” Phonak CEO Lukas Braunschweiler said in a news release. The Lyric hearing aids are sold on a subscription basis, with upgrades and service bundled into the subscription price.

Phonak Rounds Out Spice Platform Family With Entry- And Mid-Range Hearing Aids Plus Phonak CROS Solution For Single-Sided Deafness

Phonak today expanded its array of products based on its new Spice sound processing platform with the entry-level and mid-range Cassia and Solana hearing aids as well as the new Phonak CROS solution addressing the problem of single-sided deafness.

Phonak’s Spice Generation platform, introduced last Fall, provides a much smaller, faster processor along with numerous wireless features to provide state-of-the-art features in the company’s new hearing aids, loading them with features usually found only in premium hearing hearing aids. And by utilizing the Spice chipset for the Phonak CROS solution, the company is able to provide a feature-rich, flexible set of solutions for people with one completely deaf ear. Read more

Phonak Spices Up Its New Ambra And Audeo S Hearing Aids With A Next-Generation Digital Signal Processing Platform

Worldwide hearing-aid market leader Phonak is rolling out its new Ambra and Audeo S families of hearing aids based on its “Spice Generation” sound processing and fitting platform. At the heart of the new platform is the new Spice digital signal processing (DSP) chipset, which has twice the processing power, is twice as fast and has three times the memory than the company’s previous DSP platform. The Spice Generation platform also enables smaller form factors, which the company calls “CountourDesign,” and it comes with a new “Target” software system to make it easier for audiologists to program the new hearing aids to more exactly meet their patients’ needs.

The company calls its new Phonak Ambra hearing aid family “the premium flagship of the Phonak Spice Generation.” It features true binaural communication between both hearing aids in a set, enabling users to more easily locate sound and hear better in challenging listening environments, “adaptive intelligence” which personalizes the hearing instrument by enabling it to adapt to the users’ environment, and a smaller, more elegant design. Among other things, binaural communication enables a “DuoPhone” feature which allows the user to have phone conversations streamed to both ears simultaneously for better telephone comprehension. Binaural communications also enables “StereoZoom,” which creates a bi-directional network of four telephones from two hearing instruments to locate sound and focus on a single speaker while suppressing other sounds, and “auto ZoomControl” which automatically determines where the dominant voice is in the room and focuses on it.

In addition to superior next-generation performance, the Ambra hearing aids are 20 to 30 percent smaller than Phonak’s earlier Exelia models. They are available in all form factors, including both behind-the-ear (BTE) and custom in-the-ear formats.

The Audeo S hearing aids, also based on the Spice Generation platform, are the next generation of Phonak’s popular Audeo tiny open-fit, behind-the-ear products with speaker-in-the-ear — or as the company puts it, “canal-receiver technology” (CRT). The Audeo S aids come in three Model versions at three performance and price levels. Audeo S MINI is the standard performance level, Audeo S SMART offer power performance, and Audeo S YES offers super-power performance. Because of improved feedback canceling and noise suppression, the super-power model widens the fitting range of the open-fit products to extend into severe-hearing-loss territory. According to a presentation at the EUHA (International Union of Hearing Aid Acousticians) conference last October by Valentin Chapero, CEO of Phonak’s corporate parent Sonova Group, the market for CRT’s is growing faster than any other kind of hearing aid.

While William Demant and GN ReSound Fought Over Otix, Sonova Widened Its Hearing-Aid Industry Market Lead

As GN ReSound and William Demant battled over who would win the battle to acquire Otix Global this fall, hearing-aid industry leader Sonova stuck to its knitting and on Nov. 16 claimed it has widened its market share lead. But at the same time, all three of the publicly traded hearing-aid manufacturers hinted they have turned the corner after several years of anemic growth in the global recession.

Sonova, parent of Phonak and other hearing-aid brands, reported more than eight percent organic growth in the first six months of its fiscal year in addition to revenue gains from the acquisitions of cochlear implant maker Advanced Bionics and InSound Medical, developer of the “invisible” Lyric hearing aid. With the growth in the global hearing aid market projected at no more than five percent in 2010, Sonova’s growth, powered by a slew of successful new products introduced over the past two years, earned it a substantial increase in market share. However, in the same report, the holding company lowered its earnings forecast for the remainder of the year, disappointing investors looking for earnings growth combined with faster revenue growth in the industry. Read more

Phonak Dynamic Soundfield Technology Turns The Classroom Into A Giant Hearing Aid

Soundfield classroom amplification systems have improved the education and lives of thousands of schoolchildren who otherwise would miss valuable instruction simply because they cannot hear their teachers well enough to understand what they are teaching. Now Phonak has put its vast experience designing hearing aids to use with a next-generation soundfield system featuring a 12-speaker array that reduces echoing and reverberation and automatically adjusts frequency and volume levels to achieve optimum signal-to-noise ratios in changing listening environments.  The new Phonak Dynamic Soundfield system essentially turns the entire classroom into a giant hearing aid that can dramatically improve comprehension and learning. Read more

Phonak Uses World Cup Vuvuzela Noise As Design Laboratory For New Hearing Protection Products

Phonak’s Hear the World initiative got so much attention from its announcement that vuvuzela horns were damaging World Cup attendees’ hearing that the hearing aid company’s product designers sprung into action to adapt Phonak’s popular Serenity industrial hearing-protection products with a new line of consumer devices for fans who need to protect their hearing at stadium events such as major league sports events and rock and roll concerts. Hear the World announced that Phonak customized a new version of its Serenity state-of-the-art hearing protection systems–typically used by helicopter pilots, fire-fighters, industrial staff and security professionals–and sent it to World Cup journalists in Johannesburg, South Africa, to see how well it would filter out the endless drone of the vuvuzela. The noise makers emit sound at an ear-splitting 127 decibels (dB), louder than a lawnmower (90 dB) and chain saw (100 dB). Continuous exposure to noise at more than 85 dB will cause permanent hearing damage, so virtually all fans in a stadium enduring an extended chorus of vuvuzela noise are at serious risk of hearing loss. Read more

Hearing Aid Technology Is Finally Going To Work In Hearing Protection Market

For a long time, the standard in hearing protection for the military, police and workers in noisy industrial environments was little more than a set of ill-fitting ear plugs. But blocking your hearing is often more dangerous than potentially losing it in noisy environments where inability to hear your colleague’s voices or failure to hear warnings of an imminent threat can put you in harm’s way. It’s no surprise, then, that hearing loss among soldiers who don’t wear their earplugs because they don’t feel safe not being able to hear what’s going on around them has become one of the biggest problems for veterans of the Irag war and other conflicts. That’s why it’s gratifying to see hearing-aid manufacturers have finally start applying advanced hearing enhancement and hearing protection technology to the problem of environmental noise. Phonak is the latest manufacturer to come up with an advanced hearing system for people trying to get their jobs done in noisy and dangerous environments, and it integrates some impressive technology. Read more

Race To Acquire Siemens Hearing Aids Heats Up As Cochlear Ltd. And Synthes Join Fray

Reuters quotes sources saying Cochlear Ltd., one of three global suppliers of cochlear implant devices as well as a leader in bone-anchored hearing aids, intends to join two private equity firms in making a multi-billion dollar bid for Siemens Hearing Instruments, which is being spun off by its parent company. The report also says Synthes, a global medical equipment manufacturer, also will join the bidding.

This is a huge story for the hearing aid industry, which is going through a wave of consolidation as the leading global players try to simultaneously gain market share by broadening their distribution at the low end of the market while building war chests for a new generation of R&D-led innovation at the high end of the market. Putting the very high end digital technologies required for cochlear implants under the same roof as mainstream digital hearing aids will give a shot of much-needed energy into high-end hearing-aid innovation. Read more

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