HearingTracker.com, a hearing aid shopping resource, announced the release of its latest “Hearing Industry Map.” The 2021 Edition of the Map is the latest in a longstanding series of diagrams that illuminates the hidden connections between hearing aid manufacturers and their subsidiaries. 

According to Hearing Tracker, its Hearing Industry Map has become “a staple amongst hearing industry professionals and audiologists, many of whom rely on it as a ‘cheat sheet’ for the fast-changing industry and brand landscape.” Industry veterans are said to use the Map to orient industry outsiders, while audiologists reportedly use the Map as a counseling tool, or to simply maintain their own bearings. 

The Map has been redesigned as a print-ready full-color document for 2021, and, for the first time, includes high-resolution product images and logos, Hearing Tracker reports. The new Map presents over 120 hearing aid brands and subsidiaries in organized groups under their respective parent companies, which include Sonova, Demant, WS Audiology, GN, Starkey, Amplifon, Intricon, and Hearing Lab Technology. 

When asked about the most significant industry changes for 2021, Abram Bailey, AuD, HearingTracker’s CEO (and the Map’s creator) said: “The Map reveals that most of the major manufacturers are in some way involved with the direct-to-consumer industry, either through vertical integration or private labeling. Examples include Lively under GN, Blamey Saunders under Sonova, and hear.com under WS, which is providing remote fittings in some markets.”

He pointed out that most major manufacturers are also involved with third-party administrators, “either through ownership, investment, or product supply.”

Bailey said: “I was surprised to learn that Lucid Hearing is now being sold in Walmart, Kroger, and Sam’s Club. There were also a surprisingly large number of new companies on the radar this year, like Bose, Novidan, Orka, Whisper, and Olive. Nuheara made the map this year too after registering their first hearing aid with the FDA.”

A high-resolution printable version of Hearing Tracker’s 2021 Hearing Industry Map is available to download at: hearingtracker.com/map.

Source: Hearing Tracker

Image: Hearing Tracker