IntriCon Brings the Industry's Most Power-Efficient, Wireless Audio Streaming Hearing Aids to Market

IntriCon Corporation IIN, a designer, developer, manufacturer and distributor of miniature and micro-miniature body-worn devices, today announced that it has completed phase one, as anticipated, of the introduction of the NXP® Semiconductor's NxH2003 Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) audio streaming SoC into IntriCon's Lumen™ 155 product family. IntriCon's and NXP's R&D teams merged exceptional hearing aid engineering and wireless audio streaming semiconductor technology, to deliver hearing aid devices that can stream wireless audio from IntriCon's wireless accessories, such as remote microphones, consuming only 2.6 mA current at 1.2 Volts, which is exceptional in the industry.

Said Gorder, "Incorporating state-of-the-art, low-power consuming wireless technology is a critical step in creating our high-quality, low-cost hearing healthcare ecosystem. By integrating NXP's NxH2003 into our Lumen 155 product family, we can provide outcome-based features, connecting our hearing aid devices with various wireless accessories. We intend to launch this technology coupled with a remote microphone into our Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) and Direct-to-Insurance (DTI) channels in the first half of 2018. Additionally, we intend to integrate this with our Sentibo Smart Brain self-fitting software, which is designed to improve both channel productivity and the quality of first-time fittings, resulting in lower prices, greater access and increased customer satisfaction."

Said Bart De Loore, vice president of NXP's Personal Health business, "IntriCon's Lumen 155 wireless audio streaming performance is a great proof point of the performance of NXP's NXH2003. Optimized for use in hearing instruments, NXH2003 streams wireless audio over 2.4GHz at industry lowest energy consumption and smallest footprint. Similar to what NXP did with NFMI-based MiGLO solutions NXP expects to deploy its industry-leading, low-power BLE audio streaming technology in the adjacent hearables market as well."

NXP's state-of-the-art BLE 4.1 certified solution measures only 7.25mm2 and has industry-lowest receive and transmit power levels of 4mW and 7mW respectively. The NxH2003 forms a total solution for ultra-low power wireless audio streaming as it embeds both an M0 microcontroller (running the protocol stack and application), as well as an embedded CoolFlux^TM DSP (running all of the required audio processing including sample rate conversion and audio [de]compression).

IntriCon believes this state-of-the-art wireless technology is important to its strategy of creating an eco-system of care, eliminating cost and access as barriers to the adaptation of hearing aids. The company has patented certain aspects of wireless self-fitting and remote update and adjustment of hearing aids. It is believed that once the FDA has finalized the regulation mandated by the OTC Hearing Aid act of 2017, the availability of IntriCon's wireless hearing devices will open the door to greater competition, spur innovation and position the company as a leader in driving affordable hearing care into the U.S. market.

About IntriCon Corporation
Headquartered in Arden Hills, Minn., IntriCon Corporation designs, develops, manufactures and distributes miniature and micro-miniature body-worn devices. These advanced products help medical, health care and professional communications companies meet the rising demand for smaller, more intelligent and better connected devices. IntriCon has facilities in the United States, Asia, the United Kingdom and Europe. The company's common stock trades under the symbol "IIN" on the NASDAQ Global Market. For more information about IntriCon, visit www.intricon.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in this release and in IntriCon's other public filings and releases that are not historical facts or that include forward-looking terminology are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. These forward-looking statements may be affected by known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are beyond IntriCon's control, and may cause IntriCon's actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from the results, performance and achievements expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors are detailed from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016. The company disclaims any intent or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, regardless of whether new information becomes available, future developments occur or otherwise.

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