Switzerland’s Sonova, on Tuesday (6 August), launched a hearing aid that uses real-time AI to improve the volume of speech amid background noise.
The Sphere Infinio is the first real-time AI-powered hearing aid and has been launched alongside a new “Infinio platform”.
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Talking to Reuters, CEO Arnd Kaldowski said: “The launch of both new platform and product should be a surprise to the market, because nobody knew this technology and this benefit, which is quite significant, will be available for anyone already this year.”
In May, Sonova announced that it expected its upcoming product launches to increase sales and profit growth in the second half of the fiscal year.
The hearing aid industry has seen falling profits throughout the summer, with many within the industry citing tough competition as the driver.
Kaldowski said: “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.”
Research and analysis company GlobalData forecasts that the overall AI market will be worth $909bn by 2030, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35% between 2022 and 2030.
In the GenAI space, revenues are expected to grow from $1.8bn in 2022 to $33bn in 2027 at a CAGR of 80%.
