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The Walking Dead…..(Big 6/4 manufacturers)

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Edited

It might be a bit of an exaggerated title, but I think think is going to spell the end of the large manufacturer stranglehold on the industry. The days of £2K wholesale prices for a pair of aids are likely done pretty soon. When you have £7k sales using £70 of actual hardware, there’s such an economic pressure to fill the gap between that it becomes irresistible to other players in the market.

Just look at the current car market, there’s been an explosion of ‘lookalike’ Chinese vehicles, all electric and about a third of the price of the European/US versions. The pressure within the industry is greater, and the barrier to entry is much lower. Especially because the engineering and assembly is already there (and in some cases abandoned). The only real step behind is the R+D advantage held by the manufacturers.

Now, if you buy the latest hearing devices, put them through a test lab capable of emulating real world situations, and feed the results to AI, all things being equal, you can write that result back into a chip. Bang goes you competitive advantage and for $100, you can punt out a device with an OnSemi chip and the best de-noising capabilities on the market.

The big boys might be able to continue to throw up walls around their supply lines for a few years, but they’re staring at a cliff-edge, unless they pull a rabbit out of a hat (like spousal voice recognition) in the next iteration. Today you can buy an aid that will allow you to self-test, prescribe and stream Bluetooth with ease up to a severe loss.

Sorry if you don’t do existential threats on a Sunday (or if you have Oticon shares), but the writing is genuinely on the wall - in large enough letters that it can be seen on the horizon. As to my game, I think there’s still an opportunity for the tactile portion of the industry to carry on, but if I was working at putting the widgets in the boxes, I’d be seriously looking at my long term options.

Enjoy your Sunday Lunch!

28 people in this conversation42 min readJump to latest

I don’t think it will be as easy as you think. If it were hardware manufacturers would already be doing it. There have been many players who have tried to enter the market and all of them have failed because of the regulatory requirements and requirement to provide long-term support to users that only companies with high profit margins (like Apple) can sustain in the long run. Self-fitting device companies like LXE are shutting down. Too much of the individual success of people depends upon the skills of the clinicians who support clients.

@Hearing_Potential said:

Too much of the individual success of people depends upon the skills of the clinicians who support clients.

Hi, I’m in my 21st year as a Ha wearer, and I’ve never had any issues with the programing on my ha’s, but let me clarify, here in Quebec, Canada we don’t get suppliers like Costco or similar vendors, the Gov. does not allow it, but the Audi’s are certified, belong to a professional association that in order to belong to you must pass exams, that is after going to school to learn about it all, my Audi is very good, listen to me and makes the required adjustment if any to make my hearing as best as it can be using the product that I have, she also always does a , it’s standard, takes the time to solve issues, her ear mold taking is virtually flawless, but there’s is a cost involved, yes it’s expensive, and look at my , and I hear birds, the water fall in my yard pond, and even most importantly, the wife.

Quebec’s policies are indefensible and therefore outrageous. Protecting residents from being satisfied Costco customers? LOL A sorry situation for those who might otherwise be able to afford help but can’t or can’t afford to drive to Ontario. I wouldn’t spend a dime at any clinic that supports that protectionist policy.

Forgot to add, the government provides Ha’s free to both ears if you’re working, and one ear if retired. Also free implants for those under 70.

I am a veteran been getting my aids from the Veterans Administration for 21 years. I can tell you while seems the help it has taken my present audiologist 4 years to figure out how to adjust my aids so I can understand speech. And by the way as my audiologist finally admitted my doesn’t tell the whole story about my hearing loss. I have the Phonak Spheres and Oticon INTENT1 aids. The Spheres are definitely better for noisy environments. The Intent1 aids are definitely better for quiet environments.

@Hearing_Potential said:

Lower taxes would allow people to afford these things themselves.

Huh? How do you reduce a student’s or a pensioner’s or an unemployed or disabled person’s taxes by say $8000? Just how much taxes do you imagine those folks are paying?

Costco provides high quality devices and services to a large number of people who’d otherwise have to do without. I’m guessing that the Quebec government is paying more for partial devices for some people than it would cost to send everyone to Costco for top devices and full service. Also guessing that clinic prices are generally higher in Quebec because the clinics are artificially insulated from competition. Costco operates hearing aid centers in every Canadian province except Quebec, which says something.

If things do go that way I’m not going to celebrate audiologists losing their jobs but I’ll be happy that many people who can’t afford hearing aids now finally will.

I would not hold my breath. The whole drug and medical industry have the money to bury anything that could hurt their bottom line. I am running into that now with my vision. The pharmaceutical industry has sued a small company out of business that made a supplement that actually improves my vision. I am scrambling to find replacement .

In reply to @Hearing_Potential

@Hearing_Potential said:

I don’t think it will be as easy as you think. If it were hardware manufacturers would already be doing it.

The big 6/4 are still doing their damnedest to preserve their model, unfortunately the ‘research engine’ of the industry is moving into the virtual and there’s disruption happening in the supply lines. The hardware has hit the flat part of its development curve.

Just because you’ve historically bought into the ‘classic’ model isn’t a reason to keep buying from it. Would it actually make any difference to you if the hearing devices said Shenzen or Jinghao Electronics? What if they were $100 a pair for a comparable device?

Here is my thinking anything we get from China comes with the cost of losing our privacy. Here in the USA China is our enemy and China spies on us anyway it cans.

Your computer, tv, Phone, iPad and everything else comes from China (including your current Hearing Aids).

All that would be different is that the Chinese made hearing aids won’t carry a European brand name.

As an IT professional and a military encrypt specialist I have a different view on things than you do. My aids are actually part of the Veterans Administration program. And my phone is vetted to ensure privacy. By the way I no long have are use a computer.

Unless you’ve got everything bolted down at the packet level for your phone or have been able to stop your (Chinese) aids tootling away in , I’m sure there’s plenty of info leaking out.

Somewhere Gene Hackman has just put his dog in his bag and flicked a switch that started a big countdown timer.

There are way to scan devices for malware that isn’t necessarily available to the average person. I learned a lot of tricks while working for Microsoft, Dell, and by providing service to the US government and military. It isn’t perfect but better than available to the public. I am very old school but educated to what is possible.

In reply to @Hearing_Potential

@Hearing_Potential said:

Reducing people’s taxes by $1 - 2k per year is completely possible if you reduce wasteful spending.

@Hearing_Potential I really appreciate your insights as a professional, they are very valuable.

But the above is a purely political statement and you are not going to convince anybody in Canada that privatized health care is the way to go.

In reply to @Um_bongo

I forgot to mention it also helps a lot to live off the beaten path. I don’t live in a city or town. I live out in a rural area. And an area where I am around that many people, and most of them are way in retirement age.

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