No, no they're not. Its just the test range displayed is at the very low end of the chip to demonstrate best W/Gh. The actual release W/GH will be significantly higher, as will the GH/chip. But even at .25 at chip, there are already chips that can achieve that at low clock speeds, and many more to come.
According to previous updates, the production chips would have have greater efficiency:
Update
Some details of BE300:
Process: tsmc 28nm hpc
Package: fclga (5mm x 5mm)
Normal Mode:
0.7v vdd
6gh/s per chip
8gh/s-12gh/s per chip for mass production
0.343w/g on chip
~0.3w/g on chip for mass production
Low Power Mode:
0.55v vdd
4.5gh/s per chip
6gh/s-9gh/s per chip for mass production
0.225w/g on chip
~0.2w/g on chip for mass production
The schedule of BE300 producing: First batch production will be done next Feb.
So, why are you assuming that they will be less efficient?
You're missing the point. There are 4 variables, not 2. W/GH, GH/chip and $/GH [and so $/chip]. In order to maximise $/chip, GH/chip will be raised much higher for a retail product than you see in those tests. That in turn, increases W/GH.
I'm not saying the
chips can't achieve those lower W/Gh, I'm just saying don't be disappointed when the
products based on those chips aren't .25W/GH. [This is of course ignoring that chip W/GH also isn't = to product W/GH.]