Company Announces New Partnership with
Elite Hearing, LLC – the Largest
Network of Independent Hearing Healthcare
Providers in the United States,
Further Broadening HyperSound Clear’s
Distribution Channel
San Diego, CA – November 19, 2015 – Turtle
Beach Corporation (NASDAQ: HEAR), the leading-edge audio technology company,
today announced that after nearly two years of development and preparation, its
groundbreaking hearing healthcare device – HyperSound Clear™ – has officially
launched and is now being sold to consumers through hearing healthcare
providers. Turtle Beach began fulfilling initial pre-orders for HyperSound
Clear in October, and the Company is now executing a controlled rollout
of the product to a small group of hearing healthcare providers through the end
of 2015, and will further expand HyperSound Clear availability in
early 2016. Additionally, the Company has vastly broadened its network of providers
via a new distribution partnership with Elite Hearing,
LLC, the largest network of independent
hearing healthcare providers in the United States. Elite Hearing is part of Amplifon
USA, a subsidiary of Amplifon S.p.A. – the global leader in hearing healthcare
for more than 65 years, and currently supports more than 1,600 member locations
across the U.S. Through this new partnership, consumers will be able to
purchase HyperSound Clear through Elite Hearing’s network of hearing
healthcare providers.
“With a completely new type of consumer
technology like this, our priority for HyperSound Clear is to bring it into
the market at the right pace versus attempting to maximize revenue early-on,”
said Rodney Schutt, Senior Vice President and General Manager for the HyperSound business at Turtle Beach
Corporation. “We are deliberately introducing HyperSound Clear into the
channel slowly, which allows us to better monitor and integrate feedback from
our partners and focus on customer satisfaction. Our current production
schedule through the end of the year is limited and already fully allocated,
and we’re on-track to deliver product to a smaller subset of our hearing
healthcare partners first, with the expectation that by the end of Q1 next year
we’ll have increased our manufacturing output and the number of hearing healthcare
partner locations that carry HyperSound Clear.”
HyperSound® technology is a fundamentally new approach to sound
delivery that generates a highly directional, narrow beam of audio in the air. Similar to how a flashlight directs a
beam of light, HyperSound Clear directs a beam of audio to targeted listeners,
which has been shown to significantly improve sound clarity and speech
intelligibility in individuals with hearing loss1. HyperSound Clear works in parallel
with the audio from the TV or home theater system, so a person with hearing loss will
experience immersive, 3D audio when sitting in the HyperSound beam, while everyone else in the room hears audio from
the TV speakers or home theater system at a normal volume level. This means
that people with hearing loss, along with family members and friends, can once
again return to the family room to enjoy the latest home entertainment
together. Additionally, HyperSound Clear will be
programmed by a hearing healthcare professional to a specific user’s hearing
profile to deliver optimal results, and is customizable for up to two
individuals.
HyperSound Clear is available for a MSRP of $1,675, and consumers
interested in purchasing it should speak with their hearing healthcare
provider. Additionally, through its partnership with CaptionCall® Turtle Beach is offering complimentary white
glove installation for a limited time for each HyperSound Clear unit
sold in the U.S., where the Company will install and setup the
first-of-its-kind directed audio solution for people with hearing loss for the
optimal home listening experience. Once purchased, programmed and brought home,
patients in the U.S. will be contacted by a member from CaptionCall to schedule
the complimentary in-home installation.
Researchers estimate that one in five Americans, and one
in three people over age 65, suffer from hearing loss. Impacting over 48
million Americans, hearing loss is the third most common chronic physical
condition in the United States. An estimated 360 million people worldwide suffer
from some form of hearing loss, and HyperSound Clear offers a new way
for people living with hearing loss to once again enjoy home entertainment.
To learn more
about HyperSound technology and HyperSound
Clear, please visit the official website at http://hypersoundhearing.com.
About Turtle
Beach Corporation
Turtle Beach Corporation (www.turtlebeachcorp.com) designs leading-edge audio products for the
consumer, commercial and healthcare markets. Under the Turtle Beach brand (www.turtlebeach.com), the Company markets a wide selection of
quality gaming headsets catering to a variety of gamers’ needs and budgets, for
use with video game consoles, including officially-licensed headsets for the
Xbox One and PlayStation®4, as well as for personal computers and
mobile/tablet devices. Under the HyperSound
brand (www.hypersound.com), the Company
markets pioneering directed audio solutions that have applications in digital
signage and kiosks, consumer electronics and healthcare. The company’s shares
are traded on the NASDAQ Exchange under the symbol: HEAR.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes
forward-looking information and statements within the meaning of the federal
securities laws. Except for historical information contained in this release,
statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements regarding
assumptions, projections, expectations, targets, intentions or beliefs about
future events. Forward looking statements are based on management’s statements
containing the words “may”, “could”, “would”, “should”, “believe”, “expect”,
“anticipate”, “plan”, “estimate”, “target”, “project”, “intend” and similar
expressions constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements
involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual
results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking
statement. Forward-looking statements are based on management’s current belief,
as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management.
While the Company
believes that its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can
be no assurances that its goals and strategy will be realized. Numerous
factors, including risks and uncertainties, may affect actual results and may
cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking
statements made by the Company or on its behalf. Some of these factors include,
but are not limited to, the substantial uncertainties inherent in acceptance of
existing and future products, the difficulty of commercializing and protecting
new technology, the impact of competitive products and pricing, general
business and economic conditions, risks associated with the expansion of our
business including the implementation of any businesses we acquire, our
indebtedness, and other factors discussed in our public filings, including the
risk factors included in the Company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K
and the Company’s other periodic reports. Except as required by applicable law,
including the securities laws of the United States and the rules and
regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Company any is under
no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement after
the date of this release whether as a result of new information, future
developments or otherwise.
1 Mehta, R., Mattson,
S., & Seitzman, R., Kappus, B. (2015, August). Speech recognition in the
sound field: directed audio vs. conventional speakers. Audiology Online,
Article 14901. Retrieved from http://www.audiologyonline.com.
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Turtle Beach Corp. Liolios
858.914.5093 949.574.3860
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