Published September 2026. Company ownership in the hearing industry changes often, and the information below was accurate at the time of writing.
I get asked this a lot: “Why don’t you sell Phonak?”
It’s a fair question, and the honest answer says a lot about how the hearing aid industry works in Australia.
Most big hearing chains are owned by the people who make the hearing aids
The industry calls this vertical integration. It means the manufacturer owns the factory and the shopfront.
- Audika is owned by Demant, a Danish company. Demant makes Oticon, Philips, Bernafon and Sonic hearing aids.
- Connect Hearing is owned by Sonova, a Swiss company. Sonova makes Phonak and Unitron, and also owns the iHear and Neurosensory clinics.
- Bloom Hearing Specialists is owned by WS Audiology, which makes Widex and Signia.
- Amplifon (Bay Audio and Attune in Australia) is an Italian company (not a manufacturer) and the world’s largest hearing aid retailer. However, it is in the process of buying GN Hearing, the maker of ReSound and Beltone. The deal is expected to be finalised by the end of 2026.
- Specsavers (Hearing Check at Specsavers) is a family-owned company headquartered in Guernsey, in the British Channel Islands (not a manufacturer). Its stores are run as joint ventures with local partners, and it sells branded hearing aids from the major manufacturers as well as its own-label hearing aids, which are made for it by those manufacturers.
- Hearing Australia is a government-owned statutory authority (not a manufacturer). As well as providing Hearing Services Program care, it operates commercially and sells private hearing services. It buys its hearing aids through a government tender, and in 2023 the supply contract was won by GN Hearing, the Danish maker of ReSound. That is the same GN Hearing that Amplifon is in the process of buying.
Who owns Australia’s hearing clinics?
The company that makes the hearing aids often owns the clinic that recommends them.
Amplifon (Italy, not a manufacturer) is buying GN, due end 2026
Ownership as at September 2026. Sources: Better Hearing Australia, Hearing Savers, HearingTracker, Hearing Loss Explained. Brand names are trademarks of their owners.
So if you walk into one of these clinics, you’ll generally be recommended that company’s own brands. That doesn’t make the clinician a bad person. I’ve worked for both Audika and Connect Hearing, and when you work for these companies, you’re told which brands you’ll be selling. It is what it is.
It’s not just an Australian story either. In the UK this year, Demant bought Amplifon’s entire UK business and turned it all into Audika. Here in Australia, those two are still separate, competing companies. The ownership lines keep moving, which is exactly why it pays to ask who owns the clinic you’re sitting in.
So why doesn’t AIM Hearing stock every brand?
Technically, I can buy any brand. But manufacturers reward volume. Unless a clinic commits to selling large numbers of their product, the wholesale price isn’t sustainable for a small business.
To give you a real example: in my experience, the wholesale price offered to a small independent like me for Phonak can be higher than what a patient can pay for the same hearing aid at a Sonova-owned clinic. There’s nothing illegal about that, but it means I can’t ethically buy Phonak and sell it to you at a fair price. If someone has done their research and truly wants Phonak, I’ll tell them honestly to go to Connect Hearing.
No clinic can keep every manufacturer happy. If you tried, you’d go broke.
What I stock, and why
At AIM Hearing, I stock Starkey, Oticon and Widex.
- Starkey is now the only major manufacturer in Australia that doesn’t own its own chain of clinics. It used to run a chain called iHear, but those clinics are now owned by Sonova, the company behind Phonak.
- Oticon, yes, is also sold by Audika here in Bundaberg. But I like to offer hearing aids that use different noise reduction strategies. See my previous article on how Oticon, Starkey and Phonak each take a different approach to speech and background noise.
- Widex is only stocked by one other clinic in Bundaberg, another independent.
Why that choice matters to you
As a quick recap of that article: Phonak and Starkey work on the same principle: reduce the background noise. Oticon takes the opposite view and keeps more of the surrounding sound, balancing speech and the room rather than pushing the room away.
I try to be as fair as I can by stocking two major brands that take opposing approaches, so you can trial both and hear the difference for yourself. I just can’t offer all three.
Here’s a real example. Last week, a client came in convinced that Phonak must be the best hearing aid for her. When we talked it through, that belief came entirely from the ads she’d seen. She was ready to invest in premium devices, so rather than talk her out of it, I sent her to Connect Hearing to do a one-week Phonak trial. I asked her to come back afterwards, if she chose to, and do a Starkey trial, because the two work on the same principle of reducing background noise. That way she’s comparing apples with apples.
That’s not something I normally do. In my experience, Starkey performs extremely well in background noise. But she deserved to make that decision on her own ears, not on advertising, even if it meant losing her to a competitor.
In more than 15 years in this industry, I have never had a manufacturer-owned clinic send a patient to me to compare their product against another brand.
The simple advice
Wherever you go, ask two questions: Who owns this clinic? and Why are you recommending this brand for me? A good clinician, independent or not, should be able to answer both without flinching.
If you’d like a straight answer to both, contact AIM Hearing in Bundaberg. And if you already wear hearing aids from another clinic, you can transfer your care to AIM.
About this article
Ownership details. Company ownership information comes from public sources, including Better Hearing Australia, Hearing Savers, Hearing Loss Explained and HearingTracker. Ownership in this industry changes regularly, and details may have changed since publication.
Professional experience. Comments about wholesale pricing and working inside manufacturer-owned clinics reflect my own professional experience over more than 15 years in the industry. They are not statements about any company’s official policy.
General information only. This article is general in nature and is not individual clinical advice. Hearing aid suitability depends on your hearing assessment, your ear health, your listening needs and your budget.
Brand and product names are trademarks of their respective owners. AIM Hearing is a fully independent practice and is not owned by any manufacturer.