VANCOUVER, June 10, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - According to a new report by iData Research ( www.idataresearch.net), the leading global authority in medical device market research, the Chinese and Indian markets for hearing devices, including retail and wholesale sales, is valued at over $1 billion and will almost double-in-value by 2017. Growth in these countries will be driven by improved distribution by major foreign retail-chains such as Amplifon, in a traditionally fragmented and underdeveloped industry. Hearing aid promotion and education from brand-name manufacturers such as Siemens is also driving adoption among the over 400 million hearing aid candidates in these countries.

"Hearing aid penetration among those with hearing loss in China and India is only 1%," says Dr. Douglas Fung, Analyst Manager at iData. "Increased disposable incomes in these countries will drive these hearing aid markets to become two of the fastest growing in the world. Despite this growth, the penetration rate will progress only marginally by 2017 due to limited education among consumers and underdeveloped retail networks. For this reason, companies that promote awareness will benefit the most from this lucrative industry."

The report states that, within India, major international hearing aid brands such as Widex and Beltone have opened retail locations, while regionally, retail-chain Amplifon merged with National Hearing Care to gain market share. As the purchasing power of retail-chains grow in both India and China, prices are expected to decrease, driving unit sales to double-in-volume by 2017. Siemens, GN ReSound, Sonova, Starkey and Widex are the top manufacturers positioned to benefit from this growth.

Furthermore, iData's accompanying report covering Australia, Japan and South Korea states that the Asia-Pacific hearing device market was valued at almost $2 billion with Japan making up the vast majority of these sales.

iData's global report series includes the "Chinese and Indian Markets for Hearing Aids and Audiology Device 2011" as well as Asia-Pacific, European and U.S. reports.

For more information, register free on iData's website at:
http://www.idataresearch.net/idata/registration.php

About iData Research

iData Research ( www.idataresearch.net/idata/discoveridata.php) is an international market research and consulting group focused on providing market intelligence for medical device, dental and pharmaceutical companies. iData covers research in: hearing-devices, endoscopy, cardiovascular, dental and more.

SOURCE iData Research Inc.