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Nuheara shifts from consumer electronics to hearing health
By Yolanda Redrup

Smart earbud maker Nuheara hopes a shift in its sales strategy will pays off this year, with the company moving from selling its products in big-name electronics retailers to focusing on optical shops.

Nuheara makes wireless earbuds called IQbuds, which let users make phone calls and listen to music and act like a hearing aid for people with mild-to-moderate hearing loss, allowing them to amplify conversations and reduce background noise.

Previously the earbuds have been sold through retailers such as Best Buy in the United States and on Amazon, but now the business is focusing on the optometry market as it offers more services to the hearing impaired.


Nuheara chief executive Justin Miller hopes the IQbuds will encourage more people to seek help for hearing loss.

Nuheara co-founder and chief executive Justin Miller said he found that selling through optical chains resulted in a more "consultative sales approach", which was better suited to the positioning of the product as an alternative to an expensive hearing aid, rather than just as an electronics gadget.

"We found that it's a product that doesn't sell itself on the shelf. It takes a consultative-style approach, and optical chains let us have this approach," he said.

Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week, Nuheara unveiled new products, including the IQbuds Max, which has in-built active noise-cancellation technology and a new design, plus better processing power and power consumption.

The company also launched a hearing app store, IQstore, as part of a play to create a broader "hearing ecosystem".

As part of that vision, the company also launched IQconnect, a hearing assessment and sales tool. It is designed to allow sales staff to offer customers a two-minute, in-store hearing test with different frequencies to establish the level of hearing loss.

Mr Miller said he hoped IQbuds would encourage people with mild hearing loss to seek treatment earlier.

"Earbuds are becoming a fashion item, like what happened with glasses," he said.