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 Market leader Sonova earlier this year launched a new hearing aid
microchip capable of streaming audio directly from wireless devices,
as the Swiss company tried to close a technology gap with its Danish
competitor.
"The competitors are coming, but we can't focus on what they have in
their bags," Chief Executive Anders Hedegaard told Reuters, adding
it was important to constantly renew products in the $6
billion-a-year hearing aid market.
GN shares were down 5.0 percent at 200.5 Danish crowns at 0851 GMT,
after third-quarter hearing aid sales growth slowed, due in part to
disruptions caused by hurricanes in the United States, the company's
biggest market.
Its GN Hearing division reported underlying growth of 6 percent,
which disappointed analysts after the launch of its newest hearing
aid, ReSound LiNX 3D, led to double-digit growth in May and June.
"GN Hearing has benefited from having very differentiated products
compared to the competitors in the past couple of years but that has
become more blurred now," Sydbank analyst Morten Imsgard said.
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The ReSound LiNX 3D hearing aid offers remote tuning and direct
streaming from an Apple iPhone to the hearing aid, aiming to win
over tech-savvy Baby Boomers.
Sonova now aims to compete on direct-streaming with a 2.4 GHz chip -
which GN was first to present years ago - that enables direct
streaming from not just Apple but other Bluetooth-equipped devices
as well.
GN posted third-quarter revenue of 2.28 billion Danish crowns ($357
million) slightly lower than analysts' average forecast of 2.30
billion, according to a Reuters poll.
(Reporting by Julie Astrid Thomsen; Editing by Mark Potter)
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