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The end of the hearing aids?

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videos predicting the end of the traditional hearing aid industry are flooding social media and youtube. Apparently audiological services are no longer relevant. So tired of all the oversimplification and disinformation. I do think we're at an inflection point with companies like Anker jumping into the hearing aid market, but I don't think the traditional market is going anywhere anytime soon. I'm all for getting better and wider adoption, but they aren't for everyone. That's both by design ( limits on output) and due to the fact that many people still need an audiologist by their side setting real-world expectations, counseling them on usage, maintenance, acclimatization, etc. Audiology is a surprisingly complex field where success is not usually as simple as accessing the device...

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I’d like to see changes in hearing tests and real improvement in response in noisy environments

I had 1 Widex in the L ear, then 3 pair of Phonaks receiver in canal. My dispenser for my Paradise P90Rs talked politely but couldn’t set up those hearing aids. I wish there was a dufus test built in that would remind him of omissions and mistakes. He caused me great grief.

After 5 years I’m now wearing GN Resound ENZO iA and have had an excellent specialist for 3-1/2 years.

DaveL

I’d like to see those changes made by a I.

@DaveL said:

I’d like to see changes in hearing tests and real improvement in response in noisy environments

With regard to noisy environments, I think we're entering a new highly competitive era where the incumbents will duke it out with newcomers like Fortell and Anker to develop the best denoising for hearing aids. It's an exciting time as better hearing in noise is the #1 priority for most hearing aid users / prospective users.

Yeah, open fittings (like common open-dome ) are an issue because they let background noise in directly through the earcanal, skipping the de-noised sound-processed pathway. I'm not aware of any type of ANC that can work in an open earcanal... In the meantime, where we are seeing progress is Active Occlusion Cancellation (AOC) which is like ANC but for reducing your own voice through phase cancellation. If we make it easier for people to tolerate more , this means more effectiveness. For people with itchy/sweaty/waxy ear canals, this won't be a viable option.

My experience with audiologists is that they're overworked and trying to survive in a world where hearing aids are really expensive and insurance companies are squeezing benefits. Both the patient and the audiologist suffer, and the insurance company CEO gets a bonus.

Chatting with my audiologist last visit, I found that they're now out of network (a year ago they were in network). I suspect my next hearing aids will be Costco and some . For my loss it should be okay, but there are plenty of others who need help, and I hope that they're not locked out.

I have great respect for good audiologists, and specially the ones who contribute here.

In reply to @bpeckham

@bpeckham said:

insurance companies are squeezing benefits.

This is a huge issue at the moment. I am of the mindset that insurance adds nothing of value between the patient and the carer other than a cumbersome administrative layer and inefficiencies. Yes, the patient gets a lower price, but at what overall cost. And yes, the care is of lower quality because the audiologist cannot offer the same level of care and survive. The other issue audiologists have is they never properly joined hands to form a cohesive buying group. Compared to Costco, they have really high wholesale prices. There have been efforts over the years to form buying coops etc, but the profession is too fragmented. It's also hard sometimes because practices sign up for manufacturer loans and have no option to buy through buying groups since they are on the hook to buy wholesale from the manf who offered the loan.

In reply to @AbramBaileyAuD

Exactly. hearing aids are a valuable addition, but they don't make audiologists obsolete. The device is only one part of successful hearing care—assessment, fitting, counseling, follow-up, and managing complex hearing loss all matter. The future is more choice and better access, not the end of audiology.

We’re currently transitioning out of the ‘conventional’ supply chain. We now directly talk to the Chinese, not just order via the Big 6. My last 2 bulk orders have been outside of the old system.

The product is good: fewer quality issues than the current . Probably due to the Chinese doing greater volumes and wanting to improve ease of use to the final user. Size wise they aren’t quite there, but the new ones are ergonomically better and use the Knowles receivers. It’s my experience that they’re quieter in terms of noise floor because (I think), they’ve told the to bump off the white noise vs ‘characterised’ input.

As for the programming, it all moves down the chain to the end user via the app. Also you don’t need Noah or a specialist programmer, it preloads its own DB which happily sits across your Onedrive (if you’re multi-site) and it just fits out of the box: people on here have turned their nose up that it doesn’t support NAL, but if you fit and verify using proper , you effectively skip that need anyway. Or the client takes it away and can self-tune to the Nth degree in their difficult to hear places using the app.

The drive to has made the manufacturers’ experience easier and their profit (much) bigger, but in chasing that, they’ve ultimately lost their ‘specialisation’ (/cic) which protected the market: just like the car makers, their market is done.

In reply to @AbramBaileyAuD

The same pressures exist in non-Insurance based markets too. It’s possible that the steps will happen more gradually and progressively in these markets, as there won’t be a big corporate signal where one insurance buying ‘group’ disenfranchises the Big 6.

As soon as the market is aware of the alternative options at the cheaper end (Fortell) isn’t saving them money), I can see the pressure coming to bear.

Edited

That’s a bit commercially sensitive at the moment, but there are a couple we are dealing with. You’ll see many of the offerings on different platforms, but your issue (as an end user) is that you can’t realistically tell the wheat from the chaff.

I’ve got a big enough sample size (and the right verification equipment) to see if they do what they say on the tin. Plus having a few ‘test-clients’ at my disposal means I can run a front-end sampling/usability/quality assessment.

If you want an idea of where I think they (currently) are; they’re roughly sitting at an Oticon Real/Starkey Genesis level, but with bigger batteries to do full Bluetooth.

Using the OnSemi chip-set, albeit the run out of the last gen means that they aren’t paying for the bleeding edge front end costs of the Starkey chip, but they do get a powerful and established processor that they can fettle into doing what they want. The rest is just how much money they chuck at developers to improve the /firmware.

I’ve got product landing on Wednesday with a higher chip iteration: it doesn’t land with all the marketing fluff of the Big 6, but even if it’s 95-98% as good as the others, the price does the rest of the talking. Just as a fwiw;: we’ll put these out on the eBay store for £499/pair, but you’ll pay a load more if you sit in front of me in the clinic.

The £€$6-7k market is about to take a tumble in my book.

I bought Oticon Real 1 in 2023, for $5800 with one year support. How much would I pay for Chinese aids from my audiologist with their bottom line staying the same?

Bottom line represented by % or gross margin?

% - $600 -ish. No back-up, as you couldn’t really run a proper business on that model

Same gross margin: $3200 -ish.

I have often said and believe that will at some point in the future be the death of humanity.

In reply to @Um_bongo

Brand recognition: I have asked a handful of people what brand of hearing aids they had. To my considerable surprise, of the four, none could name the brand. If that tiny sample is indicative of the larger market, hearing aids from China will have little resistance.

True- At least with my brother in law he knew the brand of his hearing aid(s) but couldn't tell me the model name (like Lumity or whatever the newer ones are) as I was curious.

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