Beltone has introduced the Beltone Marq, an open-fit receiver-in-the-ear hearing aid that the company describes as the "smallest and lightest hearing instrument of its kind." The GN Resound subsidiary is a well-known brand in the U.S., where it serves the market for low-to-medium-priced hearing aids through numerous retail Beltone hearing centers. The technology and design are similar to other manufacturers' tiny behind-the-ear designs with near-invisible wires to a speaker (receiver) with a soft, open tip inserted deep in the ear canal. Like the others, it is so lightweight and comfortable that the user can barely feel it on or in the ear, and from a cosmetic perspective it is truly near-invisible. The only catch is that GN Resound's parent company, GN Store Nord, is trying to sell GN Resound and its subsidiary brands to Phonak, which is intent on becoming one of the world's largest hearing-aid companies through both acquisitions and aggressive introductions of new products.
Too often, subsidiary brands that are rolled into acquisitions by larger companies are neglected and forgotten in the midst of the chaos of a merger of multinationals. I wonder if the Phonak acquisition of its parent company, including the uncertainty surrounding the German trade office veto of the merger and the two companies' subsequent appeal, will distract both Beltone and its customers from what appears to be a promising new product.
Posted by David at 11:38 AM on Jul 14, 2007 in HEARING AIDS, INDUSTRY NEWS, NEW PRODUCTS
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