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Demant CEO: Sonova's exit from Costco has strengthened our position

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@MDB Thanks for the post and the link. :+1:t3:
Note that they didn’t say what was the reason for Sonova exiting Costco.
Maybe good for Demant, but not for consumer.

Interestingly, further down on that same MedWatch page is an article which says that Sonia intends to return to Costco although not with a Phonak product but perhaps with the Unitron brand.

I would think Hansaton might be another possibility as the KS9 and KS10 looked a great deal like Hansaton models. However it pans out, it seems unlikely that Costco will ever carry hearing aid models called Phonak or Resound again.

Edited

In reply to @billgem

Well, it takes two to tango. Phonak may want back into Costco with a product. But if the buzz about Costco initiating the separation as the result of product performance/support problems has any merit - I have no idea what is true - Costco may not be enthused. Especially if Costco sales aren’t suffering. And I don’t have an easier time scheduling appointments in the Costco HA department these days, so I presume that sales are going well.

Also, I find it interesting that the separation has done more than put a small wiggle in Sonova’s bottom line. Demant CEO seems to understand the financial opportunity and is saying the right words. And if the Philips 9040, which I recently purchased to replace KS10, is any indication of the quality of what they are going to be putting into the Costco channel I’d say they are exceedingly well positioned.

All in all, it seems to me that Sonova, one way or another, really screwed themselves, either by walking away or by not doing what it takes to avoid getting tossed out.

In reply to @MDB

I suspect Costco sold quite a few Phonak Brio aids as well as the KS 9&10 aids.

This article also seems to clear up why the Costco/Sonova separation took place. Sonova initiated it based on monetary and retail seller rational. This turned out to be a mistake as well.

Because of these things I can see Sonova getting back with Costco, maybe even the Phonak aids but I agree with Hansation or Unitron being the obvious choices. Like Phillips and Demant and Oticon.

Either way it’s good to see Costco in the hearing aid business helping the .

@Raudrive said:

This article also seems to clear up why the Costco/Sonova separation took place. Sonova initiated it based on monetary and retail seller rational. This turned out to be a mistake as well.

@Raudrive How did you establish that?

=Sonova was dropped from Costco last year when the supermarket chain first stopped selling the Kirkland Signature private label at the end of September and subsequently stopped selling Phonak products as well.=

===================
And this:

”Of course, this has given us an opportunity to increase our share at Costco. We were already a supplier, but the fact that someone has been taken out of the equation and that Kirkland Signature, which has been there for many years, is no longer there, makes for more open day-to-day competition, and we have benefited from that with the Philips Hearlink brand,” Nielsen, CEO of Demant, told Marketwire in connection with this week’s EUHA trade fair in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany.

”We have gained a good and strong position at Costco, which we are doing everything we can to hold on to by working closely with Costco and listening to our customers, as we always try to do,” he continues.

Not sure Demant will be pleased if Sonova is welcomed back to Costco.

As I stated above, I don’t know what happened because I have no facts. But I’ve followed Costco very closely since 1998 and I’ll bet my next Social Security check that this was Costco’s choice and that we will not see Sonova back anytime soon.

@Torbill I tend to think it is a bit of both, why? well:

-KS10 charging fiasco ===> maybe got Costco fed-up.
-KS10 & Brio 5 are few item short of Audeo / Naida Paradise P90, which makes getting them from Costco an absolute bargain ===> I feel maybe there was a push-back from independent hearing care professional, judging by how many video on youtube bashing Costco , also, maybe a clue is in the new Phonak marketing campaign targeting (saw some youtube video from Phonak), which might mean that Phonak is offering an olive tree to HCP so they can stay with them and sell Audeos …
-Could be other HA manufacturer complaining that they couldn’t compete at Costco, I guess they made Costco an offer they couldn’t refuse.

These are my guess, again I could be wong.

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