Brand Profile: Unitron Hearing Aids
Unitron is a leading global maker of hearing aids with a very strong presence in the United States and Canada. An independent subsidiary of Sonova Group (which also owns the Phonak hearing aid business), Unitron has leveraged its own R&D with Sonova’s platform technologies into an array of high-end hearing aid products. Unitron also is driving innovation in retail delivery of hearing aids through its Flex:trial products.
Unitron’s Era sound processing platform powers its Quantum and Moxi hearing-aid families. Era features a next-generation digital signal processor that performs over 200 million operations per second–with double the speed and twice the memory capacity of previous processors–driving new sound processing software that delivers higher fidelity sound.
The Quantum family offers a full spectrum of shells and styles, including smaller, more ergonomic behind-the-ear (BTE) models and more flexible, precise in-the-ear (ITE) choices, delivering the benefits of the new Unitron Era sound processing technology to nearly any conceivable hearing profile.
The Moxi family incorporates Era sound processing in an open-fit, receiver-in-the canal (RIC) design. Promoted with the tagline “Open fit goes high fidelity,” Moxi hearing aids are at the cutting edge of an industry-wide trend to put high-power, high-performance sound processing in tiny “on-the-ear” processing units with a micro-wire extending to a tiny microphone (receiver) sitting in the ear canal. The still-new open-fit RIC form factor, which doesn’t require an occluding ear mold, is driving faster growth in the high end of the hearing aid market worldwide, positioning Moxi to take advantage of demand for the latest sound processing technology in an open-fit design.
In October 2011, when Sonova announced the appointment of Jan Metzdorff as President of Unitron, the holding company also tasked Unitron with driving the new Sona brand through Unitron’s strong international distribution channels. Sona was created by Sonova to give audiologists a standard, upgradeable platform to make it easier to fit and retain hearing-aid patients.