At the beginning of the nineteenth century, a hearing aid called "earhorn" hit the world。
Such equipment is usually made of metals or plastics, in a funnel form, with one end close to the ear and the other used to collect sound. The first hearing aid。
While the speaker is able to magnify the sound, it lacks advanced functions of modern hearing aids, such as noise suppression and frequency adjustments. Based on the needs of persons with hearing impairments, the medical community has been working tirelessly to find better solutions。
Over time, technology has progressed, and by the twenty-first century hearing aid technology has entered a full digital development phase. Products are constantly being updated and markets are rapidly expanding. In 2020, the domestic market alone was close to $6 billion。
Unfortunately, however, the development of domestic enterprises in this area lags relatively behind. According to data from good medical applications, about 90 per cent of the country's hearing aid market is occupied by international giants, and domestic firms compete mainly in the middle and low markets。
Why, then, do domestic firms face such a daunting neck challenge in the small hearing aid sector
Zero-one
While hearing aids do not look complicated, research and development is not simple。
Digital hearing aids use non-linear amplification, compressing large sounds, magnifying small ones, making the processed sound sound comfortable and clear。
To achieve this process, digital hearing aids are the use of dsp digital signals to process chips, digitally sequence sound signals and integrate self-adapted noise, acoustic feedback inhibition, balancers, etc., into algorithms that enhance hearing aid performance, so that hearing aid sounds are clearer and silenced。
Thus, during the conversion of digital hearing aids, the core technical threshold does focus on two key areas:
One, the digital hearing aid chip. These chips are the heart of the hearing aider and deal with amplification of sound signals, filtering, digitization, etc. They need to be characterized by high speed, low utility and high integration to ensure hearing aid performance and battery lifetime。
Two, algorithm. Complex algorithm support is required to achieve a variety of hearing aids functions, such as noise suppression, feedback control, directional microphone processing, frequency compensation, etc. These algorithms must be capable of intelligently adjusting the sound treatment to the hearing loss of different users and environmental noise conditions。
It can be said that technological advances in both areas directly affect the performance and user experience of hearing aids. Unfortunately, domestic enterprises had previously been dominated by surrogate workers, so that few had made breakthroughs in both areas。
In addition to this, the specialized sub-coaching channel for hearing aids has become a short board for domestic enterprises。
Unlike conventional devices such as sphygmomanometers, traditional hearing aids are sold mainly at sub-line specialized stores, where professional matchners use specialized hearing aid equipment to help the hearing impaired choose individual hearing aids and provide solutions for the late use of hearing aids and rehabilitation for the hearing impaired, based on the loss of hearing status and self-needs of the hearing impaired. The hearing-impaired can also perform repair and routine maintenance of hearing aids at the online store, as required, after purchasing them。
The six major first-line brands of hearing aids, including rathodar, hard force, sica, odikon, listening, steak, etc., are now dominated by high-end digital machines and customized machines, leading to a specialized sub-linear distribution model and relatively complex processes for end-users to access the product. In other words, the advantage of the online downscaling channel for hearing aid items is another central factor in the strength of the giant。
As a result, hearing aids have become one of the areas where the neck has been clogged, subject to multiple factors。
02 clear trajectory
Product technologies, as well as access advantages, make the global market for hearing aids a megapolistic pattern. Idate data show that in 2023 the five major groups accounted for about 96 per cent of the global market for digital hearing aids; in the domestic market, almost 90 per cent of the share was occupied by international giants。
Despite this, domestic enterprises that survive in the cracks have not given up the opportunity to break the giant monopoly。
For example, good health care, which is dominated by alternative workers, is also autonomously developing chips. In 2022, its subsidiary, the harmonic autonomous research and development, successfully produced the chips and received the first production chips from the substitute plant。
Even photo-medicines, the core advantage of which lies in chips, have come into the field. Based on the pre-existing operational advantages, hysteria is the only company in china that has developed high-end medical chips on its own. The generic chip is more extensive and can be used in areas such as hearing and physiological signal detection。
It is not only medical enterprises, but also internet enterprises, such as telegraphs, millets, telecommunication, etc. These enterprises have the advantage of algorithms。
At the beginning of 2023, tix launched an internet-enabled smart hearing aid, and the new edition was upgraded with 40 db gain for persons with moderate hearing impairments。
In addition, capital is accelerating, and new generations of enterprises are growing faster, with the financing of successive harvests from enterprises such as voice and hearing, knowledge and technology。
It is not difficult to understand that there are two clear growth logics in the hearing aid market in terms of market realities。
First, the logic of higher penetration rates in domestic markets. Overseasly, developed countries in europe and the united states are more advanced in the perception of the wearing and use of hearing aid products in their regions than in developing countries. According to eurotrak data, the penetration of hearing aid products in most european countries exceeded 20 per cent in 2018, including in the united kingdom, france and elsewhere; the penetration of hearing aid products in japan also reached 14. 4 per cent。
In terms of the state of economic development and the perception of hearing aids, there are significant deficiencies in the country, resulting in penetration of less than 5 per cent of domestic hearing aid products. In other words, as domestic hearing aid market penetration increases, it may be possible to generate a good increase。
Second, it is the logic of national production. As mentioned above, domestic enterprises are missing in the hearing aid market, but what is called disparities are also driving progress。
Perhaps, in the future, there will be a massive domestic hearing aid。
03, not just technology
Of course, hearing aids have evolved to this day, not simply technical, sales logic, but logic understood by users。
The central reason is that hearing aids have evolved from purely medical products to consumer goods that meet user needs。
The performance of hearing aid products has been greatly enriched by the increased technical level of hearing aid production。
On the one hand, with advances in technologies such as hearing aid product chips, algorithms, etc., hearing aid devices, in addition to providing basic sound amplification needs as rehabilitation devices for hearing impairments, have a variety of functions such as memory, re-coding, etc., which can even achieve cochlear performances such as noise resistance, sound source orientation, sound positioning, etc.
On the other hand, because of the extensive application of modern smart electronics, hearing aids themselves can be connected through the internet to other intelligent electronic terminals, allowing for data interoperability and multi-scene applications, as well as additional enabling functions such as hearing temperature, heart rate, etc。
In other words, the integration of multiple attributes has become an important direction in the development of current smart wearable equipment. For example, smart bracelets and watches that carry blood sugar, blood pressure, heart rate monitoring, sleep management, etc., while the otc hearing aid gives them more recreational consumption properties at the medical level, in addition to the core requirements of hearing aids。
In june 2023, for example, sam haiser launched two oc hearing aids all-day clear and all-day clear slim, a tws model that reduces the psychological stress of hearing impaired people when they wear it, and smart scene detection functions that amplifies the volume of voice in different settings and can also serve as headphones to listen to music。
However, product functions are not as good as ever. With the spread of hearing knowledge and the pursuit of a higher quality of life, different groups of people with hearing impairments will choose different technical parameters or types of hearing aid products based on their own hearing status, needs application scenarios, economic ability, etc., thus generating a large personalized demand。
Mass-type hearing aid products and individualized customizations will be available simultaneously to meet the needs of a wide range of different types of users. This also means that enterprises need to understand user needs and position their products from a higher dimension。
As a matter of fact, hearing aids are more important than martial arts, but perhaps more at the heart of it is “ideology”。
