Cochlear sales boom as market share rises

Hearing implant manufacturer Cochlear has reported a 20 percent jump in sales for the half year ended December, 2023 to $1.1 billion, driven by strong growth in cochlear implants and sound processor software upgrades.

Cochlear implant units increase by 14 percent as the company consolidated market share gains and strong growth in developed and emerging markets and in all age segments.

Strong demand for the recently released Nucleus 8 sound processor upgrade drove services revenue 29 percent higher.

Underlying net profit increased 21 percent to $192 million.

The result puts behind a difficult period for Cochlear which was hit by hospital closures and surgery cancellations during the Covid-19 pandemic, and cements recent sales improvements and new technology uptake.

In HY24 there were 24,193 cochlear implants – previously known as the bionic ear, up from 21,249.

The company’s gross margin in the period was 74 percent, down one point on the previous corresponding period.

Cochlear told investors: “We are continuing our investment in R&D and market growth activities to support long term market growth, with an anticipated investment of around 12 percent of sales revenue in R&D.

“Cloud computing-related investment is expected to be around $34 million in FY24.””

Further reading:
How Cochlear’s manufacturing skills kept it onshore

Picture: Nucleus 8 sound processor