GN ReSound Expects To Increase Its Share Of The Global Hearing Aid Market After A Slow Two Years, But Industry Growth Remains Anemic

More evidence of a turnaround in worldwide sales of hearing aids came with GN ReSound’s announcement of improved financial results today, but overall growth in the industry remains anemic. GN ReSound, one of the six largest global hearing aid makers, announced flat organic growth in the second quarter of 2010 over the same period in 2009, after sales declines in the previous five quarters. And the Denmark company made an optimistic forecast for the remainder of the year, predicting that it will increase its share of the global hearing aid market in the second half of 2010.

“We expect to grow above the market in the second half of 2010,” said Lars Viksmoen, CEO of GN ReSound, pointing to the successful introductions of new high-end hearing aid families in late 2009 and the first half of 2010. “This expectation is building on the successful introduction of the Surround Sound by ReSound-featured products–ReSound Live and dot2 by ReSound in late 2009–combined with the global launch of ReSound Alera.” 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

Feel Good Department: Super Bowl Heroes Drew And Brittany Brees Give Big Assist To Hearing Protection Advocacy

Credit Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees and his wife and partner-in-parenting Brittany with the biggest assist of the year for hearing protection advocacy. The feel-good story of the afternoon was when the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback shared a special moment with his year-old son Baylen just before hoisting the Lombardi trophy in front of 70,000 fans and millions of TV viewers. The first question out of many viewers’ mouths was, “What’s with the headphones?” Drew and Brittany let everyone who asked know that the huge hearing-protection headset covering little Baylen’s ears has been standard issue since their son attended his first game at the tender age of three weeks. The New York Times parenting blog captured the moment beautifully, giving both parents an A+ for putting their son’s precious hearing first. Now here’s a question: who was the manufacturer of that hearing-protection headset? I can’t tell the brand or model from the pictures. Whoever it is now has the world’s most valuable product endorsement!

02/11/2010 UPDATE: This just in–a Hearing Mojo reader named bob has identified Peltor as the maker of Baby Baylen’s hearing-protection headset. Inc. Magazine got on the story quickly. Peltor, located in the home town of the Indianapolis Colts, apparently had no idea their Peltor Junior Earmuffs would be getting such a great endorsement. For more on Peltor see our previous story on Peltor’s hearing protection headsets.

Introducing The Long-Awaited Convergence Of Hearing Aids And Consumer Electronics

Paul Dybala, Ph.D., the editor of both Audiology Online and Healthy Hearing, has filed a wonderful, comprehensive report on the convergence of hearing aids and the wave of consumer earpieces and headsets being marketed by cellphone makers and consumer electronics companies. In 1999, Dr. Dybala was among the first to predict the mainstreaming of ear-level hearing-assistance technology in the form of “Ear-Level Voice-Activated Systems” (ELVAS). Now he is declaring that “Elvas Lives.” Read more

Jabra’s New Headset Is Hard-Of-Hearing Friendly

Jabra has always set trends for great design and cutting-edge consumer technology with its telephone headsets and earpieces, and now it is aiming its marketing guns directly at hard-of-hearing consumers with its announcement of the new Jabra 650 telecoil-compatible corded headset. Read more