Has this been mentioned???
The only reason for BFL to make this announcement is to prevent people from ordering from similarly priced competitors. That is why they offer the trade-in. Assuming everything is the way they say it is, it would be stupid to order from anyone else. As soon as the ASIC comes in(crosses fingers) you can zoom to higher efficiencies while everyone who ordered elsewhere is stuck.
BFL is savy, but if they don't deliver the ASIC quickly, in quantity, and at affordable prices, they will have pulled off quite the trick in destroying competitors market share.
My 2 cents.
1. If you watched their website, it has been known for several months that announcement for an Institutional Grade Super Computer would be made in June.
2. Where have you seen similar priced competitors ? I haven't seen any, which is the reason people are willing to wait long for the order to arrive from BFL. The 110Ghs Bitfury is hardly a competitor at $90k and a 10KW requirement that you can't simply install in your bedroom.
3. They offer trade in because the initial customers are the ones that took their business off the ground, and are also the ones who are likely to reinvest over and over, thus it would work against them in the long term if they neglected such customers, and made people lose trust in them.
