Demant A/S

Early 20th century

Hans Demant purchased his first hearing aid for his hearing-impaired wife in 1904. He won a contract with the American manufacturer General Acousticon Company that produced hearing aids called Acousticon. Demant sold his first hearing aids in Odense, Denmark. After Demant's death in 1910, his widow Camilla and their son William Demant, took over the responsibility of the company. William expanded distribution to Finland and Russia. In 1915, William, and his wife Ida Emilie Høst, traveled to Russia to sell hearing aids. William started the licensed production of hearing aids from General Acoustics Company. The new hearing aid, named Acousticus, becomes a registered trademark. He then began to import unassembled hearing aids without wires and batteries and set up a production line in Denmark to assemble the devices.

Postwar success

During World War II, William was unable to import good from the US, England and France. He therefore decided to produce components for the latest Acousticon devices in Denmark and start manufacturing the first Danish-made licensed hearing device - the Acousticus - a copy of the original Acousticon model. In 1943, Oticon become the official name of the company. After World War II has ended, the production of hearing aids in Denmark became a big success, and Oticon established an export business. Together, with American hearing aid producer Charles Lehman, they establish the American-Danish Oticon Corporation, headquartered in Copenhagen.

In 1957, William and his wife Ida Emilie donated the family's shares in the company to "William Demant and wife Ida Emilie's Foundation", also called the Oticon Foundation, which is now called the William Demant Foundation. The Foundation's general aim is charity, with particular emphasis on helping people with a hearing impairment.

During the 1960s, Oticon expanded with subsidiaries in the Netherlands, United States, Norway, Switzerland, and West Germany. Management also changed during this time, with Bent Simonsen, Henning Mønsted, Torben Nielsen, and Bengt Danielsen taking over Oticon, with Bent Simonsen as general manager.