Sonova launches hearing aid with real-time AI, first in market (updated)
06/08/2024 10:01
(Adds share move in paragraph 1, analysts comments in
paragraphs 4 and 6)
By Amir Orusov and Anastasiia Kozlova
Aug 6 (Reuters) - Switzerland's Sonova SOON.S on
Tuesday introduced a hearing aid that utilises real-time
artificial intelligence to improve speech clarity from
background noise, the first such product in the global market,
sending its shares 5% higher.
Along with the hearing aid, named Sphere Infinio, Sonova is
launching a new Infinio platform.
"The launch of both new platform and product should be a
surprise to the market, because nobody knew this technology and
this benefit (real-time AI), which is quite significant, will be
available for anyone already this year," CEO Arnd Kaldowski told
Reuters in an interview.
"This sounds like a huge step forward for Sonova," Urs Kunz,
an analyst at Research Partners AG, said in an email.
Unlike its main rivals - Italy's Amplifon AMPF.MI and
Denmark's Demant DEMANT.CO and GN Store Nord GN.CO which
have all warned on profits this summer - Sonova stuck to its
full year targets.
"Our first impression is that Sonova has launched an
interesting product platform, which is likely to accelerate
growth in H2 2024/25," Carnegie analyst Niels Granholm-Leth said
in a note to clients.
The hearing aid industry has been showing signs of softer
market dynamics in Europe and the U.S., while analysts have also
flagged tough competition in the market.
"We will need to see how the market evolves and the customer
reaction to the products. But we are good with our full year
guidance even with the currently somewhat slower market,"
Kaldowski said.
Sphere Infinio uses new DEEPSONIC chip technology that has
53 times more processing power than what is currently used by
the hearing aid industry, Sonova said in a statement.
It views Infinio and its existing Lumity platform as the
main future growth drivers for its hearing instrument business,
which brings in around a half of its total sales.
(Reporting by Amir Orusov and Anastasiia Kozlova in Gdansk;
editing by Milla Nissi)
((Amir.Orusov@thomsonreuters.com;
Anastasiia.Kozlova@thomsonreuters.com))