crowdsourcing at attractive prices seems like a good idea but everyone knows the proper way to make asic miners
1.) is to design something that works really well and is currently profitable
2 - a.) mine with them until you make back your money.
2 - b.) take pre-orders posting current mining stats as "speculated stats" or "prototype stats"
3.) fulfill the pre-orders and sell them for just under what they would ever in their lifetime make back.

if you upset that balance, then a lot of people will be out of jobs in the mining hardware scene (aka making it an honest trade)

so far that seems like the business plan of the most successful mining hardware vendors. well that and just selling older hardware at prices that will just barely break even before being useless (cost of power > btc output)

I have no proof, just speculation and observation of current scenarios. Only time will tell with all the current pre-order hardware. but it is always very convenient that the hardware that comes out will just barely break even on mining. then the mining companies just say "its an investment into bitcoin"

The only way to make money on btc mining seems to be buy big, mine a little, sell the hardware before its useless to hopefully have coins while breaking even. and the only way to make money on bitcoin (apart from selling hardware) seems to be to buy low / sell high on the exchanges.