Strategy and businesses
Cochlear Implants business
We bring the power of Sonova innovation to people with the most significant hearing loss.
Sonovaʼs Cochlear Implants business operates under the Advanced Bionics brand, with more than 30 years of expertise in developing cutting-edge technology to help children and adults with severe hearing loss to hear again, or for the first time. An integral part of Sonova since 2009, Advanced Bionics is present in over 50 countries across the globe, employs over 1,000 dedicated professionals, and has helped more than 100,000 recipients. Close collaboration between Advanced Bionics and other Sonova businesses means that the Group can offer a comprehensive range of solutions for every kind of hearing loss, and that all consumers can gain from the latest advances in sound processing, speech enhancement, connectivity, and digital solutions.
The worldwide cochlear implant market is growing at around 8% per year and has significant growth potential, with a large difference between the number of people who could benefit from the technology and those who use it today. Our strategy to bridge that gap is based on accelerating our innovation, maintaining strong focus on enhancing the experience of the people who choose our solutions and the professionals who serve them, connecting with potential candidates for our solutions, elevating commercial excellence through process improvements, and strengthening the foundations of our business.
Innovation that empowers
A cochlear implant treats the most severe forms of hearing loss by bypassing the middle ear and stimulating the hearing nerve directly with an electrical signal. Sounds in the environment are converted into this signal by a sound processor worn behind the ear. Our close R&D partnership with Sonovaʼs Hearing Instruments team means that, while competitorsʼ devices link together, Advanced Bionics cochlear implants and Advanced Bionics processors with their integrated Phonak technology work as one. They were literally made for each other. It is a powerful combination, supporting a range of capabilities that together form the most complete solution in the industry: with the best audiological performance in difficult environments, unique Made For All™ connectivity with virtually any Bluetooth®-enabled device, the only true bi-modal solution for recipients with a hearing aid in the other ear, the most reliable implant on the market – now with the added power of Remote Programming.
Introduced last year, Remote Programming allows recipients to get full in-depth remote consultations and real-time processor adjustments from their audiologist using just their smartphone: a first in the cochlear implant market. Studies show that remote consultations using this service are fully equivalent to in-person consultation for accuracy, quality of communication, and ease of use.1) The uptake has been strong, enthusiastic, and continuous, and we have both upgraded the service and introduced it into new markets. The advantages for recipients – or, with pediatric recipients, for their parents – include saving the time and expense of long journeys to a specialist clinic, and being able to make in-use adjustments to suit their personal listening environments. For audiologists, the advantages are being able to enhance the patientsʼ experience, to streamline the workflow in their clinics, and to be able to serve more patients without diluting the care and attention they give to each one.
We are now extending the remote programming capability with a self-assessment application, and we have further remote digital solutions in the pipeline. The goal is empowerment: giving recipients – who are increasingly digital-savvy and accustomed to controlling their technology – the autonomy to optimize their hearing experience, and giving audiologists the tools they need to attract, engage, and more efficiently serve a growing market.
Gaining share in a global market
In late 2024, Advanced Bionics was selected as a key participant in the Volume Based Procurement program for cochlear implants established by the government of China: a recognition of the technical performance, reliability, and value represented by our implant systems. The selection, which will begin implementation in mid-2025, will further contribute to our sales growth in China, and opens up avenues for further expansion in this important high growth developing market.
In general, Advanced Bionics has recently been expanding its market share worldwide in new systems sales. This is good news in itself, and it is also an indicator of further growth into the future. It is important to note that, while an implant is only purchased once, a processor is regularly upgraded as further cycles of innovation bring new capabilities to the market, representing repeated future revenue opportunities for Advanced Bionics. As members of the Sonova family, Advanced Bionicsʼ recipients are excited to see the breakthrough advances that Phonak is bringing out in its hearing aids, as these are an indication of future sound processor capabilities, and our supportive online communities keep them informed of new developments.
On the sales side, as with our established collaborations with Sonovaʼs Audiological Care teams, the Phonak + AB Cochlear Implant Network in the United States works with hearing care professionals to identify Phonak hearing aid users whose hearing loss has progressed to a point where a cochlear implant is the optimal solution. In its second year, the network has achieved impressive success, having served almost 600 individuals. A similar initiative in Germany, now being extended throughout Europe, has been running for over a decade with great success. Meanwhile, Advanced Bionicsʼ focus on consumer lead generation has driven remarkable year-over-year growth. In North America, consumer lead generation efforts have led to 27% growth in B2C revenue over the prior year, accounting for a total of more than 1,700 implant systems year to date.
Sonova X supports profitable growth
Process improvement is a continuous exercise: this financial year, we held 30 kaizen workshops under our Sonova X business system and mindset to identify opportunities to increase efficiency, boost growth, and increase margins. The result is a set of initiatives to optimize our plant network, accelerate value improvement, reduce costs, sustain quality, and establish uniform product lifecycle management. Our manufacturing facility in Mexicali, Mexico is now up and running, and we anticipate an increasing proportion of production to be based there. On the commercial side, we are aiming to ensure that where we gain market share, we are are also securing margin improvements.