Something strange is happening at Snap. The company's top executive in charge of Spectacles, Scott Myers, quietly left his six-year role at the company ahead of the planned consumer launch of Snap's AR glasses. Reports indicate the departure stemmed from a dispute with CEO Evan Spiegel. Then, within days, Snap announced the formation of Specs Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary dedicated entirely to its upcoming AR glasses.
Losing your hardware lead right before a major product launch is not normal. Spinning up a separate company for that same product immediately after is even less normal. Something shifted inside Snap's AR strategy, and the timing raises more questions than it answers.
The departure
Scott Myers wasn't a middle manager. He was the executive responsible for bringing Spectacles from developer kit to consumer product. Six years of institutional knowledge about the hardware, the supply chain, the developer ecosystem, and the go-to-market strategy. That's the person who just walked out the door.
The reported cause, a dispute with Spiegel, adds another layer. Snap has always been a CEO-driven company. Spiegel makes the big calls. When the person executing your most ambitious hardware bet disagrees with the CEO strongly enough to leave, it suggests a fundamental misalignment on direction, timeline, or scope.
We don't know the specifics of the disagreement. But the timing, right before consumer launch, suggests it wasn't a minor difference of opinion.
Enter Specs Inc.
Days after Myers' departure, Snap announced Specs Inc. The company described it as a subsidiary that would allow for "greater operational focus and alignment" ahead of the public launch of consumer AR glasses.
That language is corporate-speak, but it's telling. "Greater operational focus" means the glasses program was competing for resources and attention inside Snap's broader organization. "Alignment" implies there were alignment problems. A separate subsidiary gives the AR glasses team its own budget, its own P&L, its own decision-making structure. It's a firewall between the glasses and Snapchat's core advertising business.
This isn't unprecedented. Google created a separate division for its hardware efforts. Meta restructured Reality Labs as a distinct reporting segment. When a company creates a subsidiary for a hardware product, it usually means one of two things: they're preparing to invest heavily without dragging down the parent company's financials, or they're preparing to spin it off or shut it down if it doesn't work.
Given that Snap just lost its glasses lead and immediately restructured, the optimistic read is that Spiegel is doubling down and wants a cleaner organizational structure. The pessimistic read is that the program was in enough trouble that it needed a reset.
What this means for Snap's AR glasses
Snap's consumer Spectacles are expected later in 2026. The 6th-generation hardware is supposed to bring real AR overlays with voice and chat commands, rich Snap Lenses, and deep Snapchat platform integration. After years of developer-only iterations, this was supposed to be the version that regular people could actually buy and use.
The question now is whether the leadership change and restructuring delay that timeline. New subsidiary or not, losing a senior hardware exec creates knowledge gaps that take time to fill. Whoever takes over the role needs to get up to speed on partnerships, manufacturing timelines, developer relations, and retail strategy.
Snap also faces a much more competitive landscape than when it started the Spectacles project. Meta's Ray-Ban glasses have already sold 7 million units. Samsung and Google are launching Android XR glasses. XREAL's Project Aura is targeting a similar market. Apple is reportedly developing smart glasses for 2027. The window for Snap to establish itself in consumer AR is getting smaller.
The bigger picture
Snap's AR ambitions have always been interesting because they come from a company that actually understands consumer social behavior. Snap invented the AR face filter. They built an AR developer platform with millions of creators. They understand how young people interact with augmented content better than almost anyone.
That consumer instinct is something Meta, Google, and Apple all lack to varying degrees. Meta's social VR efforts have struggled. Google's consumer products often feel engineered rather than designed. Apple's approach is premium-first, which limits reach. Snap knows how to make technology feel fun and casual.
Whether Specs Inc. can translate that instinct into a successful hardware product without the exec who was leading the effort remains the open question. The pieces are there. Snap's AR platform, its creator ecosystem, its understanding of consumer behavior. But hardware is unforgiving. Timelines slip, costs escalate, and execution is everything.
Snap's AR glasses might still be great. But the road to getting them into people's hands just got a lot more complicated.