Hearing aids is a big ol’ business: 37.5m adults report hearing issues without an aid — and, as the geriatric population rises, biz is only gonna get bigger.
According to Markets Insider, the audio-aid market is expected to reach $9.78B by 2022, up from $6.9B in 2017.
In the meantime, the market just gained some hefty chill points after the FDA gave master audio-maker Bose the green light to market its new Bose Hearing Aid, which can be used without doctor assistance.
The Bose Hearing Aid is a user-fitted aid controlled by a smartphone app, enabling patients to use, fit, and program hearing aid settings themselves — making it the first DIY hearing aid authorized for marketing by the FDA.
Now, the FDA will draft regulations (expected to be implemented by 2020) to make the new hearing aid compliant with federal and state laws.
The approval sent shares of traditional hearing-aid makers like William Demant, GN Store Nord, and Sonova tumbling 10% — and when one major company looks to diversify, its competitors usually follow.
In other words, traditional brands could have an even tougher time cutting through the noise if other trendy audio giants were to get in on the action.
“We know Samsung has looked at hearing aids in the past,” Bernstein analyst Lisa Clive wrote in a note to Reuters.