Not trying to be snarky (since that sounds bad?!), but obviously sales is an important (and evasive) metric. The $2k number is from the 10K, down from $70k the prior year, during a period when the ROVR was available on Amazon. Let's face it, $2K is not many ROVRs (or NEs). Let's hope the 2018 10K reflects numbers that better-align with your citations.
I do agree with your perspective that the router has more potential going forward than the (present) NE, but I suspect this data-mining effort will present many challenges of its own and the track record here suggests, well, let me not be snarky again. We'll see, I guess, but BarzCoin reeks of pure hype.
However, I disagree with your view on 3G. Sure there are a lot of worldwide users left, but why would any of them buy an NE for a similar price to an upgraded phone? And few of the 4G bands are higher than the 3G spectrum. My presonal experience is that 4G is more robust, so my conclusion is they've done better at network planning. As for a possible 4G NE in the works, well, snark snark!
