New Siemens Aquaris Hearing Aids Are Waterproof

The new Aquaris waterproof hearing aids from Siemens Hearing Instruments have taken the recent industry trend toward more durable, water-resistant hearing aids to a whole new level. Siemens says the Aquaris hearing aids are fully waterproof to depths of three feet for up to 30 minutes.

The new hearing aids promise to eliminate the repair problems associated with sweat, dirt and humidity, in addition to expanding their functionality: Siemens has even developed a sound-processing program that can be switched on while swimming to help the hearing aids adapt to the sound of water splashing and other acoustic challenges.

The company describes the technology developed for the new waterproof hearing aids in its news release:

A scratchproof, rubber-like surface holds the device securely behind the ear and prevents it from slipping. The battery compartment is equipped with a waterproof but air-permeable membrane. As a result, environmentally-friendly zinc air batteries can be used, which always require “air to breathe”. The cover clip is attached to the top of the casing via ultrasound. It also protects the waterproof but acoustically transparent microphone membrane, which was specially developed for Aquaris. A nano coating and a seal protect the earpiece.

As with its other latest-generation hearing aids, Siemens equipped Aquaris with its BestSound Technology, which improves speech understanding, the wearer is able to make adjustments using Siemens “Tek” and “miniTek” remote operation, and the hearing aids link wirelessly with modern communication and entertainment electronic devices.

Siemens Plunges Into Invisible Hearing Aid Market With New iMini, A 16-Channel Device Featuring Siemens BestSound Processing

With the launch of its new iMini hearing aid family this month, Siemens Hearing Instruments will take the plunge into the hot market for invisible in-the-canal (IIC) hearing aids.

While pre-announcement details are sketchy, enough information has trickled out to confirm that the tiny Siemens iMini hearing aids will sit so deep within the ear canal as to be virtually invisible while still offering premium 16-channel programming and Siemens BestSound sound processing features, including advanced feedback cancellation and a SpeechFocus algorithm that makes it easier to understand speech in noisy environments. The company has staged a limited rollout of the brand in several locations including France and Ireland and is promising a global rollout—with a snazzy design and choice of multiple colors—on February 21.

The Siemens foray into invisible hearing aids follows the success of Starkey Laboratories, which last year entered the market with a device marketed by multiple Starkey business units—most notably the flagship Starkey SoundLens IIC hearing aid—that sits within the “second bend” of the ear canal. ReSound also recently introduced an invisible hearing aid with innovative remote microphone that extends via an invisible wire from the processing unit deep in the ear canal to a location hidden under the outer ear’s cymba concha.

Siemens’ entry into the invisible hearing aid market indicates there is strong demand for cosmetically appealing solutions that eliminate the stigma of wearing hearing aids. Other entries in the segment include Lyric Hearing, which offers an extended-wear hearing aid that is replaced by your audiologists every few months.

HearUSA Lashes Back At Siemens With A Lawsuit And Gets Support From A Principal Investor

HearUSA to Siemens: Right back at you! Responding to an SEC filing in which Siemens Hearing Instruments threatened an unfriendly takeover following a dispute over the terms of a loan payment, hearing-aid retail chain HearUSA said it filed a suit in the Supreme Court of the State of New York seeking a declaratory judgment to prevent Siemens from making good on its threat. At the same time, Arcadia Capital Advisors, one of HearUSA’s largest institutional investors, issued a news release supporting HearUSA and accusing Siemens of “a ruse so that they can steal the company at depressed valuations.”

In a Schedule 13D filing on Jan. 18 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Siemens said it was considering exercising an option to buy out HearUSA following the Orlando, Florida-based company’s failure to make a timely debt payment. HearUSA Chairman and CEO Stephen Hansbrough responded immediately, scolding Siemens for a “negative and heavy-handed approach,” before following up with its announcement this week of the New York Supreme Court suit. Arcadia Capital Advisors chimed in with its own public statement, saying Siemens “is choosing to play the role of a bully” and accusing Siemens of trying to acquire HearUSA at a fire-sale price: “The recent SEC filing by Siemens smells strongly of market manipulation,” said Arcadia Capital Managing Director Richard S. Rose. “We believe their actions are a self-serving scare tactic, so don’t be surprised if Siemens comes out with a low-ball offer for the company.” Read more

Siemens Considers An Unfriendly Takeover Of Leading Hearing Aid Retail Chain HearUSA

Siemens AG is considering expanding its footprint in the hearing-aid industry with a potentially unfriendly takeover of HearUSA, one of the largest hearing-aid retailers in the United States. Siemens last year moved to exit the industry when it put its Siemens Hearing Instruments subsidiary up for auction but subsequently reversed course and recommitted to its hearing-aid business. Now, in a Schedule 13D filing on Jan. 18 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), it says it is considering exercising an option to buy out Hear USA following the Orlando, Florida-based company’s failure to make a timely debt payment. In the filing, Siemens said that in a Dec. 22 meeting, Hear USA had asked to defer some part of its debt payments scheduled for the end of December (approximately $1.9 million USD) and the end of January (approximately $2.2 million). Siemens, which already has a 14.9 percent stake in HearUSA, indicated in its SEC filing that rather than allow future deferment of debt payments, it would consider acquiring the company.

HearUSA Chairman and CEO Stephen Hansbrough responded quickly with a news release saying that “statements made by Siemens in its Schedule 13D fail to provide all of the facts about our relationship with them and our position.” Indicating that there were disagreements about “legitimate contract issues” that the two parties had yet to resolve, Hansbrough said “we are very disappointed that Siemens has taken this negative and heavy-handed approach.”

Siemens and Hear USA have a long-term relationship, with Siemens providing substantial funding to Hear USA in return for the retailer’s promise to re-sell Siemens’ hearing aids. HearUSA has struggled through the recession to grow profitably, but Hansbrough said in his statement that orders for new hearing aids are running approximately 13 percent ahead of a year ago, and that the company expects to return to profitability in 2011. In the past several years HearUSA has expanded its sales for managed care organizations through its network of more than 2,000 hearing care providers and 176 company-owned retail locations. It is also the administrator of the AARP Hearing Care Program, which reaches millions of potential hearing-aid customers.

HearUSA Banks On Exclusive AARP Contract To Put Hearing Aids In Millions Of U.S. Baby Boomers’ Ears

HearUSA may have found its key to success in retail sales of hearing aids with its exclusive contract with AARP, the 40-million member organization for Baby-Boomer Americans aged 50 and above. In its second-quarter financial report this week, HearUSA said the nationwide roll-out to AARP members that began early this year helped account for a nine percent increase in sales over the first quarter of 2010. Read more

HearUSA Scores Hearing-Aid Distribution Deal With AARP

HearUSA Signs Distribution Deal With AARP

HearUSA, the U.S. chain of hearing-aid retail outlets, scored a major distribution deal with AARP Services, Inc. to offer discounted hearing aids and extended warranties to the nearly 40 million U.S. members of the world’s largest service organization for adults aged 50 and older. Next to an endorsement by Oprah, a distribution deal with AARP is one of the most coveted marketing prizes for companies selling to middle-aged-and-older consumers. AARP has long offered advice on hearing health but has been short on commercial offers for hearing aids to match the discounts it provides for vision products and general health insurance plans. The HearUSA deal should provide similar incentives for seniors to take care of their hearing needs, although the initial press release held back on details of the discounts and other offers that will initially be offered to customers in New Jersey and Florida and later throughout the United States.

The arrangement is good news for Siemens, which is a major investor in HearUSA and supplies most of the hearing-aid products sold by the company. In addition to providing a financial boost to HearUSA, the AARP deal may enable geographic expansion of its retail chain, which currently sells hearing aids through 180 company-owned hearing care centers in 10 states in the U.S. and its Hearing Care Network comprised of over 1,900 affiliated audiologists in 49 states.

HearUSA this week also announced second-quarter net income of $1.1 million, compared to a half-million-dollar loss in the previous quarter. Like other companies in the hearing-aid industry, HearUSA has seen a falloff in sales due to the recession, but cost-control measures in addition to the sale of its Canadian subsidiary boosted both the bottom line and balance sheet in the second quarter of 2009.

On-Again, Off-Again Merger Of Hearing-Aid Giants Phonak and GN Resound May Be On Again

The CEO of Phonak Holding in Switzerland says he won’t be deterred, at least for now, by the German cartel office veto of the company’s acquisition of GN ReSound. Read more