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The hardware manufacturers currently are not able to keep up with the increasing difficulty, and without a miracle it pretty much means the end of private mining. This may seem pessimistic and there may be new opportunities with tech <20nm but it really depends on the manufacturers' strategies, because if it stays the norm to keep customers waiting while mining the hell out of new units themselves till difficulty kills the opportunity for the customer to reach a positive ROI again, nothing is going to change.
I really was that close to hit the order button on a couple of S3+, but now I'm just going to watch the BTC value, buy a few BTC for hodling when it feels right, and wait for new hardware to be announced (which most likely is not going to happen this year).
Some very good points well made.
Sadly I don't see the situation changing, it's such a skewed equation at the moment with all the profit going to manufacturers and all the risk going to customers. I don't think there is a single piece of hardware out there now that will generate a profit for the average miner. We all know due to the frequent price drops that manufacturers could lower the price and allow both parties to make some money, but until people stop buying overpriced hardware they aren't likely to change the way they work (and I can't say I blame them)