In the first quarter of 2013, the Hearing Industries Assocation (HIA) statistical reporting program started tracking the use of wireless versus non-wireless hearing instruments. These new statistics show that wireless hearing aids now constitute 70.0% of the entire US market. In the private sector (non-VA), two-thirds (65.1%) of all units dispensed are wireless. In the VA, about 9 in 10 (89.6%) of all units are wireless.
The figure shown here provides information on the usage of wireless versus non-wireless hearing aids in the first quarter of 2013 separated into three styles: in-the-ear (ITE), traditional behind-the-ear (BTE Trad), and receiver-in-the-canal or receiver-in-the-ear (RIC) device catagories. RIC/RITEs now constitute half (49%) of all hearing aid sales, and four-fifths (82%) of all RIC/RITEs use wireless technology. Traditional BTEs and ITEs essentially split the remaining half of the market into their respective quarters. The majority (73%) of traditional BTEs are wireless, while just less than half (46%) of ITEs are wireless.
Wireless technology has made substantial inroads into even the smallest ITEs. HIA statistics indicate that more than one-quarter (27.7%) of completely-in-the-canal (CIC) aids are wireless and half (50%) of all in-the-canal aids. Wireless technology is also present in half (48%) of full-shell ITEs and nearly three-quarters (71%) of half-shell ITEs.