The bit I don't understand with VMC is that their press releases suggest that their mining rigs are based on a single mask asic.

As I understand it, a single mask asic uses a standard base cell design and the mask sets up a metal layer which hooks the cells together so that they will perform the required function. The advantages should be much lower mask costs, and faster time to market - but the disadvantages seem to be that if you're competing with a full custom asic, it must feel a bit like the classic "turning up with a knife to a gunfight" situation. 

Does anyone know any more about this? Best case, won't the VMC chips have a much lower density, and so they will require more of them to equal the hashing power of Cointerra/KNC/etc?