Loud & Clear: Knowles Corporation Celebrates 75 Years of Technology Leadership
Pioneer of audio and hearing health solutions leverages decades of technology expertise and looks ahead toward bright future of broad-market expansion
ITASCA, Ill., November 9, 2021 — Knowles Corporation (NYSE: KN), a market leader and global provider of advanced micro-acoustic microphones and speakers, audio solutions, high performance capacitors and RF products, is proud to celebrate 75 years of innovation and industry-firsts that have redefined the audio experience for generations. Knowles contributions have been integral to the evolution of hearing health solutions and the massive advancements in voice and audio applications experienced in consumer electronics over the last two decades.
From the first Apollo mission in 1969, where Neil Armstrong spoke into a Knowles microphone, to the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover, and from the first hearing aids developed in 1954 to today’s advanced hearable technologies, Knowles has had many important contributions to society.
Since 1946, Knowles has innovated precision hearing assistance and speech intelligibility in the hearing health industry with microphones, speakers, and hearing aid components and accessories. Knowles introduced balanced armature receivers to the hearing aid market to effectively improve sound quality with heightened fidelity, realism and detail for miniature, invisible hearing aids. In the 1980s, Knowles began evolving balanced armatures to deliver premium sound quality to the music business. By adding the balanced armatures to musicians’ in-ear monitors, Knowles helps to improve and protect their hearing during performances. Soon music enthusiasts began appreciating the elevated listening experience and the use of balanced armatures in premium earphones grew. Today, Knowles supplies balanced armatures to the leaders of the audio world who are rapidly expanding the True Wireless Stereo (TWS) earphone space.
Pioneering the MEMS microphone technology under the SiSonic™ brand in early 2000s, Knowles created a new de facto standard for microphones addressing several significant challenges afflicting prior technologies. The SiSonic MEMS microphones produced in two state of the art manufacturing facilities in Suzhou, China and Penang, Malaysia continue to set the industry benchmarks for performance, quality and scale and are the preferred choice by leading smartphone, Ear and IOT OEMS around the world to bring the best user experience to consumers.
“The modern world depends on the technology that Knowles delivers. One could easily interact with over 20 Knowles components inside the devices that they use every day. Your cell phone, laptop, tablet, smart watch, headphones, smart speaker, car, and anything that has voice control all rely on Knowles technology. As the inventor of MEMS microphones and balanced armature receivers, Knowles has developed technology competencies and a high level of quality that has been forged through many years of leadership in the hearing health industry,” said Jeffrey Niew, President and CEO of Knowles. “Our experience, expertise, operational scale and global support create an unmatched edge. We’re uniquely positioned to bring voice integration and audio innovation mainstream.”
Today, Knowles leverages its decades long footprint in hearing health and audio markets to deliver voice and audio innovation to new spaces such as TWS, smart home, virtual and augmented reality, automotive, and enterprise audio. Not just a components supplier, Knowles has grown system-level expertise over the past decade and provides high-quality, development platforms that enable customers to get to market faster. Knowles solutions bring together multiple audio technologies including microphones, smart microphones, balanced armatures, audio edge processors, and software to create system-level audio solutions that can enable customers to design devices with richer audio features at low power across a wide range of applications.
The Knowles Precision Devices division is responsible for supplying components such as capacitors, microwave, and RF solutions to fast-growing markets that require high performance for mission-critical systems that cannot fail, such as military, medical, electric vehicle and 5G. From 8000 feet below the earth’s surface to orbiting 254 miles above us on the International Space Station, Knowles capacitors, microwave and RF components are technologically advanced to meet the demand. These solutions leverage Knowles’ design expertise, patented materials, manufacturing scale, operations expertise and meet the company’s reputation for high-performance and robust quality.
“What sets Knowles apart is our history of collaborating with customers to solve difficult problems. MEMS microphones and balanced armatures were solutions to big problems in the industry. Today, our teams thrive on solving for hard-to-meet performance requirements and complex technical challenges with solutions that make it easier for our customers to bring new technology innovations to market to keep pace with the fast-evolving way that we are working, living, and communicating,” added Niew. “I am grateful for the innovation, commitment, and the incredible effort that our employees bring to work every day, all of which makes Knowles the reliable and trusted partner it is today. Together, we look forward to building the next wave of industry firsts for years to come.”
To learn more, please visit Knowles.com.