Category: Industry

Valentin Chapero is telling Wall Street that Sonova, led by its Phonak brand of hearing aids, will still vie to become the world’s number one hearing-aid company even after the collapse of its bid to acquire GN Resound from GN Store Nord.

Sonic Innovations, a leading U.S.-based manufacturer, reported a healthy 16.4 percent increase in sales to $30.4 million (US) in its latest fiscal quarter, a growth rate apparently well above the rate at which the global market is growing.

Valentin Chapero, CEO of Sonova Holding AG, formerly Phonak AG, said this week Sonova may abandon its quest to acquire GN Resound if the German trade office on Aug. 8 confirms its veto of the merger.

When The New York Times devotes nearly the entire front page of its Style section to new hearing-aid designs and baby boomers’ attempts to get over the stigma and start hearing well again by embracing the new technologies, you know the industry has entered a new era.

Phonak has cranked up its PR engine for the launch of the snazzy new Audeo hearing aid family, scoring a beautiful piece in BusinessWeek magazine on the wonders of its expensive new digital hearing aids with their jazzy colors and names.

Sebotek’s patent infringement suit against several of the world’s largest hearing-aid manufacturers is a David-and-Goliath challenge to protect its intellectual property. It also throws a big element of uncertainty into a significant and fast-growing segment of the market for open-fit behind-the-ear (BTE) hearing aids.

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.

I wrote about the “seven sisters” of the global hearing aid industry a while ago, but now it appears there will be six.

uy or build? That’s a question that always confronts system manufacturers. It makes sense to buy standard components, but you want to own the designs for components that give your product a performance edge. Starkey Laboratories has answered the question about a major component in its hearing aids by selling its chip design group to…

The big are getting bigger in the hearing-aid industry, with GN Store Nord, parent of the GN ReSound Group, acquiring German hearing-instrument developer Interton for DKK 350-million ($56 million USD).