OTC hearing aids are disruptive
At least we hope they disrupt the existing market and make hearing aids affordable to the level where people buy them and use them.
Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen coined the term disruptive technology. In his 1997 best-selling book, “The Innovator’s Dilemma”, Christensen separates new technology into two categories: sustaining and disruptive. Sustaining technology relies on incremental improvements to an already established technology. Disruptive technology lacks refinement, often has performance problems because it is new, appeals to a limited audience and may not yet have a proven practical application. (Such was the case with Alexander Graham Bell’s “electrical speech machine,” which we now call the telephone.)
Convenience item
To date hearing aids (except for those with a profound hearing loss) have been a convenience item for the middle-upper class who can afford them. Even those that can afford them do not use them regularly.
- 7.1% of the US population aged 45 and over used a hearing aid.
- 80% of people with hearing aids don’t use them.
- Hearing aids are difficult – changing batteries, having to go to specialists to adjust, cleaning, always in the wrong space.
- They are also unsightly and inferred an **agedness** that most people don’t want to admit.
- While glasses can be cool, I have never heard of a hearing aid as being cool
- uncomfortable – nothing is comfortable about hearing aids. The long return periods are present because people do not quickly acclimate to wearing hearing aids. We are told to wear them for 12+ hours a day, and eventually we will get used to them!
- The average person waits 10 years between when they think they might need hearing aids and when they get them.
I’m not spending money on something I’m not convinced I need , will use, or make me look older! All of this just to have your spouse not tell you to turn down the TV?
- embarrassing – What will others think of me?
- costly to use – one of the best kept secretes is that hearing aids only last 3-7 years, and rechargeable hearing aids will last shorter times. So if you buy a pair of hearing aids when you are 65, by the time you are 90 you will have to replace them at least 5 times! That is if you don’t lose them or drop them in water before you replace them.
- difficult on the phone
- Hearing aids are not a cure – hearing aids do not bring your back to 20×20 like a good pair of glasses.
- If 40% of people between 55 and 75 need hearing aids – why don’t they use them.
- Hearing aids currently don’t provide enough value! Not enough benefit and comfort to out weigh the costs and appearance. Those with hearing aids do report better hearing and better socialization, but see it as a lost cause of aging.
Glasses can be cool – hearing aids are not! – Until????
With giants like Apple, Google, Sony, Bose already poking their toe in the business, there will be a huge sea change in not only the way hearing aids are priced, made and marketed, but the way they are worn and the way they are perceived. Apple can make them cool!
What happened to Bose is a classic **monopoly maneuver**.
The hearing aid industry has been a world-wide monopoly held by five companies who sell 95% of all hearing aids. These hearing aids to-date have been sold through the Medical/audio prescription complex at prices that are way above the average margins of any technical oriented devices. Look at television prices for example – several years ago flat screen television cost ten times what they do today, and Hearing aids have not been reduced in price.
Since the OTC passage, Bose (high end speakers) got out of the business. Bose closed their health care division – After being the first to be granted approval! – this is disappointing and baffling. Bose was the very first (APPROVED BY FDA) to offer OTC – (self fitting) hearing devices. – Bose as an innovator first developed the Hearphone in 2014, a headphone hearing device . This proved that self fitting hearing devices were possible, and the product was a cult success. However, rather than continue innovating, in 2022, Bose formed a “strategic alliance” with LEXIE and closed their health division. (probably just sold the Bose brand name) This took an American innovator out of the market. the Lexie B-1 is priced under $1,000 and has been sold for several years in other countries. Fun Fact- Bose is owned by MIT University.
It is estimated that over 5% of the world’s population – or 430 million people – require rehabilitation to address their disabling hearing loss. It is estimated that by 2050 over 700 million people – or one in every ten people – will have disabling hearing loss.
New hearing aid styles feature sleek, nearly invisible designs. Many can be easily adjusted using a smartphone app. But users often complain that they can’t figure out how to use the app, or change the batteries. So they give up and put the hearing aids in a safe place out of sight. Most hearing aid companies can help customers resolve these problems with a phone call or online chat. And if the devices are purchased at a local hearing center, associates are trained to help people get full use of their hearing aids.
Too much bother for daily use
Hearing is a brain activity
The brain requires regular stimulation to interpret sounds correctly. Hearing aids are designed to help the brain recognize conversations and noises. Some people wear their hearing aids only for special events. But hearing experts say that if people won’t wear their hearing aids every day, they may not get the full benefit of better hearing. I am agnostic on this point. This is one of those science things where all the literature says “wear all day” but quote “experts say” not convincing studies that show proof. Is 12 hours better than 8? is there no benefit to wearing only 4 hours? If you say it long enough and loud enough – it must be true
Uncomfortable design
There is no question that having something in or on, or around your ear will not feel natural. In the canal hearing devices are the least noticeable, but are probably most invasive . Just like eyeglasses or contact lenses, you will grow used to the alien object over time.
Just like prescription eyeglasses, hearing aids and OTC aids need adjustments to fit correctly. Depending on the hearing aid design, at first, wearing the devices will be uncomfortable, or they may fall out. (My AirPods fall out all the time). But with a little patience all devices can fit properly and provide the full benefit of good hearing. I would imagine in the future, there will be shops set up to provide help with OTC hearing devices (probably recycled hearing aid stores), or just individuals like myself who have one thru the learning curve. I intend to provide help thru Senior Centers ie workshops.
Don’t work anymore – batteries
Your ears have wax dirt etc, the products need to be maintained like anything else. Battery replacement is a real issue for the elderly. Everyone is getting away from battery replacement and going to rechargeable. These rechargeable aids have only been offered for the last few years. All rechargeable batteries have a relatively short life. Hearing aids with rechargeable batteries are sealed and cannot have the batteries replaced – thus when the rechargeable batteries expire, the entire hearing aid needs replacement.
The biggest issues with current hearing aids
Appearance and costs– Can the OTC hearing aid provide benefits at a much lower cost that will offset the Stigma associated with Hearing aids? Can they provide a positive cost/benefit ratio for expanded use by the Boomers?
Disruption by self – fitting or OTC hearing aids
They fit the definition of lacking refinement and having performance problems. Self-fitting hearing aids promise innovation and lower costs, but they aren’t quite there yet. I believe that with the addition of better designs and “cool” technology like bluetooth and phone access, we will see this expanded use at a much lower price and totally disrupt the Monopoly that has had its grip on the hearing aid business for 100 years.
