Ann: Digital Speaker Development Update, page-35

"...my 6 months might turn into 6 years." - ahahahahaha aaahhh classic vlad.

BTW your second, third and fourth paragraphs are called speculation. That is where you draw conclusions based on something you know against something you think you know applying the same logic. This isn't to say you're wrong necessarily; after all what we're really talking about is probabilities of success. It's well within the realm of possibility the batch they've received works sufficiently well and that the previously successfully tested ASIC doesn't suddenly produce some unwanted EM influence.