Brands
Timex launches “iConnect Calling” with Aashim Gulati as the brand face
Mumbai: Timex global brand in watchmaking, is excited to launch its newest creation, the iConnect Calling smartwatch range, further diversifying its smartwatches line up that effortlessly combines style and functionality. iConnect Calling allows users to answer calls from their wrist and keeps a detailed record of important health data, making it a perfect blend of fashion and fitness.
Actor Aashim Gulati, known for his fitness, timeliness and signature fashion style is the face of the latest collection and resonates perfectly with what the collection has to offer.
Commencing at an enticing price, the watch is available online and offline across 8 SKU’s and equipped with features such as smart notifications, a full-color touch screen display, activity tracking, water resistance and more. Enabling multi-day battery life, one full charge lasts for 7 days on normal usage.
iConnect Calling Fact Sheet-
Bluetooth calling
changeable watch face – more than 100+ watch faces available on the app cloud
100+ sports modes to measure key data (heart Rate, Blood pressure, sleep Tracker)
AI Voice for intelligent dialogue and QnA
8 SKU’s
240*284 screen resolution
TFT screen provides a crystal-clear image that is viewable even in bright sunlight
4 Games
The new range also has more than 100 sports modes to measure every vitals, be it heart rate or calories burned with the feasibility of saving data on the Timex Fit 2.0 app. Every watch comes with a one-click AI VOICE interconnection to be paired with a mobile phone voice assistant for intelligent interaction and instant question and answer. Available in contemporary colours such as rose gold, gun-metal blue and many more. The latest collection features easily detachable straps for added convenience
Speaking on announcement, Timex India managing director Deepak Chhabra said, “We are very excited about our latest iConnect Calling smart watch range. In recent years, watches are no longer seen as a mere timekeeping device but also a distinctive fashionable accessory with functionality. We are thrilled to have Aashim Gulati as the face for our new range as he reflects the perfect combination of fashion and fitness. His impressive work has earned him widespread recognition, particularly among the youth, who constitute our target consumers. We know we’ve made a ‘smart’ choice’.”
Online availability: https://shop.timexindia.com/collections/men-smartwatches
Brands
Estée Lauder to shed 10,000 jobs as new boss bets on digital shift
The cosmetics giant raises its profit outlook but stays silent on a possible merger with Spain’s Puig, as job cuts deepen and a three-year sales slump weighs on the turnaround
NEW YORK: Stéphane de La Faverie is not done cutting. Estée Lauder announced on Friday that it plans to eliminate as many as 3,000 additional jobs, taking its total redundancy programme to as many as 10,000 roles, up from a previous target of 7,000 announced a year ago. The company, which owns La Mer, The Ordinary, Tom Ford, and Aveda, employs roughly 57,000 people worldwide. The mathematics of what is now being contemplated is stark.
The fresh round of cuts is expected to generate a further $200 million in savings, bringing the total annual savings from the programme to as much as $1.2 billion before taxes. That money, De La Faverie has made clear, will be ploughed back into the turnaround.
A CEO in a hurry
De La Faverie, who took the helm in January 2025, inherited a company that had endured three consecutive years of annual sales declines. His response has been to move fast and cut deep. A significant portion of the latest redundancies reflects his push to reduce headcount at US department stores, long a cornerstone of Estée Lauder’s distribution model but now a channel in structural decline. In their place, he is accelerating the shift toward faster-growing online platforms, including Amazon.com and TikTok Shop, a pivot that is reshaping not just where Estée Lauder sells but how it thinks about its customers.
The numbers are moving in the right direction
Despite the pain, there are signs the medicine is working. Estée Lauder raised its profit outlook for the remainder of the fiscal year, guiding for adjusted earnings per share in the range of $2.35 to $2.45, above analyst estimates and a notable step up from the $2.05 to $2.25 range it had guided for in February. Organic net sales growth is expected to come in at 3 per cent, the company said, at the high end of the range it set out in February.
The share price tells a mixed story. After De La Faverie took charge, the stock surged nearly 60 per cent, buoyed by investor optimism that a longtime company insider could finally arrest the decline. But 2026 has been rougher: the shares have fallen 27 per cent this year, weighed down by disappointing February results and the overhang of unresolved merger talks with Spanish beauty giant Puig Brands SA. The company gave no additional details about those discussions on Friday, leaving the market to guess.
Silence on Puig
The proposed tie-up with Puig remains the most consequential unknown hanging over Estée Lauder. A deal with the Barcelona-based group, which owns brands including Carolina Herrera and Rabanne, would reshape the global luxury beauty landscape. But with nothing new to say and a turnaround still very much in progress, De La Faverie is asking investors to trust the process.
Three years of sales declines, 10,000 job cuts, and a merger that may or may not happen. At Estée Lauder, the overhaul has barely started.
