New Varicom Hearing Aids From Sonic Innovations Provide Wireless Connectivity To Phone, Television, MP3 Players And More

In keeping with its new parent company’s promise to continue supporting the brand, Sonic Innovations has introduced its new Varicom hearing aid family providing wireless connectivity to your telephone, television, MP3 player, and more. The Varicom family also provides a range of performance features, fitting options and form factors befitting a new flagship family of hearing aids.

When Sonic Innovations was acquired by William Demant Holding last year, customers questioned whether the Sonic Innovations brand would continue as an independent brand or whether it would be swallowed up by Oticon, the holding company’s leading global hearing aid brand. But now, following William Demant’s recent statement saying it would support Sonic Innovations, is seems clear that, for now, the brand is here to stay. Read more

William Demant Commits To Maintaining Sonic Innovations Hearing Aid Brand With Product Improvements And Appointment Of New Leader

William Demant Holding, which recently won a bidding war to acquire Otix Global, has committed to supporting Otix’s Sonic Innovations hearing aid brand, with the appointment of a new leader and product expansion including a new version of its super-power Endura hearing aid family. The Sonic Innovations brand will be a sibling to Demant’s flagship brand, Oticon hearing aids, which is one of the world’s top six hearing aid suppliers.

The parent company recently appointed Joseph A. Lugara, a 25-year hearing-industry veteran, to lead Sonic Innovations as President and COO. It also added a new model in its Endura hearing aid family, Endura 6, providing severely impaired customers with a broader range of features at different price points. Sonic Innovations will also move its headquarters in the U.S. from Salt Lake City, where it was founded, to New Jersey, near the U.S. headquarters of both Oticon and another William Demant hearing aid brand, Bernafon.

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

Bidding War Breaks Out For Otix Global As William Demant And GN ReSound Vie For Market Share In Consolidating Hearing Aid Industry

A bidding war has broken out for Otix Global, maker of Sonic Innovations hearing aids and one of the world’s seven largest hearing-aid manufacturers, with William Demant Holding today matching GN ReSound’s $58 million (USD) acquisition bid. GN ReSound last week had topped William Demant’s initial $50 million bid to acquire the struggling U.S.-based company. Today’s $58 million, $10-per-share matching offer by William Demant, parent of global hearing-aid brands Oticon and Bernafon, demonstrates it remains intent on acquiring the Sonic Innovation brand to increase its share of the global hearing aid market. There was no immediate response from GN ReSound parent GN Store Nord on whether it will keep the bidding war going by responding with another higher bid. Read more

Oticon To Double The Processing Power Of Its Hearing Aids With New Flagship ‘Agil’ Family

William Demant Holding Group’s Oticon hearing-aid brand is getting ready to introduce a new line of hearing aids with twice the processing power of its current flagship family and a new set of sound processing algorithms that the Denmark company claims will substantially improve users’ comprehension of speech in noise. Oticon’s new Agil family will be formally launched in March and be shown for the first time at the American Academy of Audiology convention in San Diego in April. The Agil family will serve a broad range of hearing needs from moderate to severe hearing loss and will come in form factors ranging from behind-the-ear (BTE) to receiver in the ear (RITE). Oticon is promoting two innovations enabled by the more powerful processing platform: Speech Guard and Spatial Sound 2.0.

Oticon says Speech Guard is based on a new wireless platform with twice the calculation power of its current flagship Oticon Epoq family. It includes a new processing kernel that it says will preserve signal fidelity–quality of sound, especially human voices–far more effectively than in the past. At the same time, Spatial Sound 2.0, a “spatial noise management system” that “maintains natural acoustic cues.” The platform integrates seamlessly with the Oticon ConnectLine wireless listening system. Read more

Six Bidders Compete To Acquire Siemens Hearing Instruments

Siemens has narrowed down the list of potential acquirers in its auction of the Siemens Hearing Instruments business to five private equity firms plus one strategic acquirer. Siemens is among the top five hearing aid companies worldwide but, according to news reports, its shrinking sales and profit margins lagged industry leaders Sonova and William Demant in 2009. News reports put the value of the unit at more than 2 billion euros ($2.88 billion US). The winning bidder is expected to be picked by the end of February. I can’t wait to see whether the newly independent entity will inject a shot of investment and growth into a hearing-aid industry that’s badly in need of new competitive energy.

And Then There Were Six: GN Store Nord Puts GN ReSound On The Block

I wrote about the “seven sisters” of the global hearing aid industry a while ago, but now it appears there will be six. Consolidation among the largest manufacturers continues as GN Store Nord considers selling GN ReSound, the world’s third-largest hearing-aid brand, to one of the other majors. Read more

The Seven Sisters of the Hearing Aid Industry

When you start thinking about buying a hearing aid, the choices can be dizzying. On first look, you would think there are hundreds of manufacturers. The reality is simpler. While there are scores of name brands, in fact only seven manufacturers control about 90 percent of the worldwide market for hearing aids. Read more