No disagreement here 
They question is if the differences are worth the money.
I absolutely agree. If I have to pay $7000 for a pair of Oticon Intent and only $1500 for a pair of Philips 9050, I would go for the Philips aids as long as I’m happy enough with the Philips aids.
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They all come from Demant. And they actually all [brands] do use similar or the same SoCs and receivers [from Knowles], because they get what’s on the market [and that’s the reason why suddenly accelerometers are being used in hearing devices]. The difference and IP is in the software, which makes all the difference as already mentioned.
But the software development is slowing down, there’s only so much you can squeeze from hardware limited to such tiny spaces. So more and more of it is marketing rather than actual progress.
It’s gotten to the point where there are serious attempts at building Open hearing devices form “off-the-shelf” components. Meaning, get the parts and build your own HA. We’re not there yet unfortunately, but we’re getting closer.
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Which isn’t my experience of the last nearly 30 years in the industry: during that time we’ve gone from possibly 15 medium and large sized firms to what now, 4 or 5? That screams market consolidation to me. Nuts and bolts home-brew start-ups are possible, but everything in the industry is geared towards either flat out copying them or buying them out.
How many phone makers can you name who still hold decent market share?
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I came across an article a while ago which seems pertinent to this topic of Oticon vs Philips. The author is Steve Claridge, a computer programmer by trade, founder of the Hearing Aid Know blog, and co-founder of Audiology Engine. Steve has also been wearing hearing aids for 36 years.
The article is a little dated in that it is 5 years old and compares Oticon and Philips back when the models he was contrasting were the Opn S and the 9010, but I think that his fundamental points still apply. Here’s the link:
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It was my impression on reading @Reginald 's reply that he was speculating about the future feasibility of open-source HA hardware analogous to the current myriad of open-source software products. That, as opposed to a new commercial manufacturer.
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Dr. Cliff just released a video to review the Oticon Intent tonight, for anyone who hasn’t see it. I think this thread kind of covered almost everything he mentioned in his video, except that he mentioned the Tap Control feature which I haven’t seen mentioned in the thread, although it was mentioned in the other Intent thread on this forum.
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I don’t think $2573 for 1 aid is that shocking. It is on the high side, but it varies depending on the providers. I’ve seen providers asking for as high as $3500 for one aid.
We have lower prices for hearing aids, but much higher prices for cars. So different worlds 
It was over $2500 for a model 3. Model 1 was over $3700. Not unheard of, but pretty pricy.
Oop, sorry I looked at the wrong place.
Of course this is probably retail price or something like that. I find that the pricing varies depending on whom you purchase it from. Boutique providers may charge full retail price, but there are other providers that may give some kind of discount. Then there are also online providers (like TruHearing or Amplifon for example) who connect you to a local outfit for the fitting service, and they’re able to give you better pricing through their negotiated volume purchase with Oticon. And then there’s also your remote sellers on eBay from Korea or Germany that may be able to give gray market pricing without full warranty to the DIY type users.
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Thanks for sharing this, @Luga . This makes a lot of sense. I’ve been contacting my in-network hearing care professionals and so far the most responsive one I’ve found told me that they use Amplifon which is a managed care provider. I told them that I want the Oticon Intent, and they said that they checked with Amplifon and Amplifon told them that the Intent has not been released to them. In light of this news as confirmed by Dr. Cliff Olson, I guess I might have to settle for the Oticon Real instead. I will press this in-network HCP to ask Amplifon for a straight answer whether they’re ever going to get the Intent released to them or not.
Edit: I was able to find another local in-network HCP chain who doesn’t go through Amplifon and they do dispense the Oticon Intent directly themselves. I also called my insurance company to find out if they require me to buy only through a managed care provider and they said no, as long as it’s an in-network provider, they’re OK with it. So now my hope to get the Intent is back on again. This goes to show that you should check with your insurance company on all the details and not just assume that if it’s like that for most insurance company, it’s going to be like that for your insurance company as well. Even various plans inside the same insurance company may probably differ in the requirements as well.
It also makes me wonder whether another big source of purchase like the Veteran Affairs is affected in the same way or not.
This doesn’t change the mis-narrative that Oticon is trying to do a favor to independent HCPs by not making it available to managed care providers which I highly doubt is the real reason. It’s more like Oticon doesn’t want to give big discounts to managed care companies anymore because they can’t make as much profit as they’d like to make because of the big discounts on their premium new releases. If this also has a side benefit to drum up more business for non-insurance-affiliated HCPs, then so be it and of course Oticon is also going to milk this aspect of it as well.
I heard from Dr. Cliff Aud that Oticon Intent aids will not be accepted under managed care. In other words, if you have Medicare advantage plan with hearing benefits, it won’t be accepted for purchase. I just hope that other healthcare provider will not follow Oticon steps.
I am sure that is due to the insurance companies and cost. I get my aids from the Veterans Administration, and the VA should be getting the aids with the new contract on May 1. Oticon white papers are bragging about how the InTEND aids will benefit Veterans.
I just saw the Dr. Cliff You Tube video regarding Oticon’s decision to sell everything in their product line but the new Intent to managed care providers. Looks like the best of both worlds to me. “People First“ my ar$e.
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Some insurance companies require that you go through their specifically exclusive managed care provider to buy hearing aids, because they get steep discount pricing from contracts with these managed care providers. But not all insurance companies do this.
My situation is the later, my insurance company, at least with my specific policy, doesn’t stipulate that I must go through a managed care provider, although they do work with managed care providers (Amplifon in one this case). The first local HCP I found is not really in-network as they claim to be, but they work Amplifon, and thus can can claim that they’re in-network, but only through Amplifon. But the second local HCP I found is actually in-network themselves without having to go through a managed care provider like Amplifon, and thus they have access to the Oticon Intent. So I have an appointment with the second local HCP in a week and a half. Hopefully everything will work out and I can get the Intent through them.
By the way, I got confirmation when the first provider talked with Amplifon, and they told me that Amplifon did confirm with them that Amplifon themselves cannot get the Oticon Intent, as explained in Dr. Cliff’s video.