A judgement of bitcoins against hashfast would most likely kill the company at this point (my guess is they sold the bulk at ~$150).
I find it unlikely that it will drive sobriety into the ASIC producers.
If I had to guess, it will instead foster the development of private self-mines a la 100TH and Asic Miner, and companies selling hardware to the public will be a thing of the past.
A deserved death then. One they brought upon themselves.
I think that such a judgement would indeed serve as a warning to other would-be vendors not to repeat HF's mistakes. Had this occurred with BFL, HF customers might not be in this position now.
There is nothing inherently wrong with the preorder model. What's wrong is intentionally misrepresenting the timetable and the risks involved, lying about the progress made, and trying to change the terms of the sale after money has been paid.