No, they always said that Cupria was faster, but they wee releasing the 26 mps level because that is what telcos needed. They would release faster versions when demand was such . It appears that there may be demand for the faster version. However, they also said that v.1.6 was more efficient. I.E. fewer gates , less heat,cheaper production costs. Those reasons may have dictated the release.
At the time of my first post I thought that after tooling up to produce the ASSP and the line card they were changing versions. Then I went back and read the last presidents letter. It makes more sense now. At least to me. LOL
Ernie