Karl Strom, Editor-in-Chief at The Hearing Review, has an interesting top 10 list- focusing on the big news for 2007 in in the hearing health industry. He knows these are cheesy USA Today Style but does them anyway. I’ll comment on some of these in later posts but here we go:

1) Sonova-GN deal is blocked, putting into question future consolidation. Announced in October 2006, the $2.6 billion purchase of GN’s hearing care divisions by Sonova (formerly the Phonak Group) represented the biggest acquisition in industry history that would have resulted in the industry’s largest company. Just when it looked like the deal was to be finalized, in March, a German court nixed it on grounds that it would have created a German oligopoly (watch for this new exciting game by Parker Bros coming to a toystore near you). The result: not only was the deal quashed, but it also complicates any further mergers or acquisitions between large companies with significant market shares in Germany. GN will retain its hearing care divisions.

2) Mini-BTE revolution continues. BTEs—thanks to open-fit, over-the-ear, and receiver-in-the-canal aids—now constitute half the US market (about 51%) after making up 26.4% of the market in 2004 and less than one-fifth of the market in the 80s and 90s.

3) Wireless and younger users. BTE hearing aids have not only become instant-fit devices, but are increasingly linked to a constellation of communication devices like cell phones, MP3 players, and even the other hearing aid in a binaural fitting. The big question: Will these devices (combined with mini-BTEs) attract a new, younger user population and/or reduce stigma-related issues?

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