Does anyone know why they'd be able to release a BTC+LTC asic a lot easier than an exclusive LTC asic? There is a huge arms race right now in the LTC world for the first ASIC so I don't understand why these guys wouldn't go "all in" on a LTC asic. They would be the first, and reap huge rewards for that.
Because scrypt requires SHA2 circuitry anyway. SHA2 related transistors would be in the chip, idling 90% of the time. Why not use that part of the chip to mine BTC during those idle cycles?
What they can fine tune is how many SHA2 units they choose to put in a chip, to control die area and costs. That has to do with it's size vs the rest of the required logic. If they are small, why not?