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.
Oticon established a temporary factory in Skinnerup near Thisted, Denmark. An additional factory in Scotland was also established. Oticon also expanded with subsidiaries in France and New Zealand. Eriksholm, Oticon's research centre was established outside of Elsinore, Denmark, in a newly renovated building. At the end of this decade, Oticon was the biggest supplier of hearing aids with a market share of almost 15 percent, and William Demant died.
Oticon Holding A/S is established in 1983. Oticon produced many powerful hearing instruments, including the E28P BTE, the I52 ITE, and the E43 hearing aid. Under the leadership of Lars Kolind, the company introduced a new and revolutionary way of working under the slogan "Time to think the unthinkable". Kolind also introduced the term 'spaghetti organisation', which is an organisation model he introduced in Oticon in 1991. This type of organisation has no formal hierarchical reporting relationships, a resource allocation system built around self-organised project teams, and an entirely open-plan physical layout. Oticon expanded further, establishing subsidiaries in Australia, Poland, South Africa, and China. The Group also acquired Bernafon, a hearing aid manufacturer based in Switzerland. The acquisition also included the manufacturer of diagnostics equipment, Maico, thus laying the foundation for the Group's diagnostic business activity.
In 1995, the company was listed on the Copenhagen Stock Exchange. In 1997, it was decided to change the name of the company from Oticon Holding A/S to William Demant Holding A/S, because it was considered disadvantageous to use the same name for both the corporate group and for one of its businesses. In 1998, Niels Jacobsen was appointed President & CEO of William Demant Holding A/S.
