Bernafon

Bernafon is a Swiss company specializing in hearing aids and hearing instruments with headquarters in Bern. Bernafon is part of the Danish William Demant Holding.

History

The basis of the company Bernafon was created shortly after the Second World War in the Gfeller AG in Flamatt in Switzerland. Since his father Hans Gfeller was strong hearing impaired himself, started his son with a fellow student to develop their own Hörapparates.

The first model from 1946 consisted of the actual hearing aid and the battery, which were housed in two leather cases, which is why it was called the A1 2-Pack. Soon after, the hearing aids become an integral part of the Gfeller - range were and were also exported.

1949 sales contracts with representatives in Italy, North Africa and the Middle East. 1975 made ​​the hearing aid from 20% of the turnover of the company, which was mainly due to the success in international business.

In 1986, the American company Maico Inc. was acquired with headquarters in Minneapolis. Maico Inc. was at this time an established manufacturer of hearing aids and audiological equipment ( audiometer ) in the USA. This acquisition should allow entry into the important American market for hearing aids Gfeller AG.

In 1987, the company Autophon, Gfeller, Hasler and Zellweger Telecommunications merged to Ascom Group. The newly created Group employed a total of approximately 14 000 employees and at the time was the world's eleventh largest telecommunications companies.

The new company name for the area of ​​hearing aids was Ascom Audiosys. In 1991, Ascom AG Audiosys won the contract to supply the state organization Australian Hearing Services and 1992, the hearing aid activities of the German Robert Bosch GmbH were acquired. The integration of the Bosch hearing aid activities and simultaneous construction of an Australian hearing aid production, however, brought the company into trouble. As part of a new strategy for the Ascom Group, it was decided in 1993 to sell off various business units, including the hearing aids that were sold in 1994 to the Danish William Demant Group.

Business

The Bernafon Group now has 16 sales companies and 450 employees and sales partners in over 50 countries and has operations worldwide. In mother's house in Bern today are more than 140 employees from around the world with the development, marketing and sales of the Bernafon products employed.

Since 1995, the Bernafon in Thisted in Denmark, and more recently also produced in Mierzyn in Poland.

In the William Demant Group Bernafon is part of the largest Research & Development cluster in the hearing aid industry.

Product line

  • Acriva
  • Chronos
  • Inizia
  • Xtreme

Mature product line

  • Veras
  • Vérité
  • Prio
  • Neo
  • Win

Awards

  • 2007 red dot design award for brite ( Bernafon Receiver-In -The -Ear )
Types of business entity Ascom (company) Mierzyn, Police County
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