I think the key phrase is "and its partners". Google can't increase global pageviews without partners and they can't step on their partners' toes too much.
Aren't these the same partners that compete in the 2.x smartphone space? In a world where damn decent android phones like the LG optimus are pushing the edge of the $100 barrier while "high end" phones continue to come out and stay in the $500 range it doesn't seem to me like they're too upset. Perhaps a notable partner or two did a lot more work on honeycomb than anyone did on previous versions?
I think I'd lend more credence to the theory that google wants to make sure that the early releases are all of particularly high quality so that's the reputation google tablets get. That would seem to encourage a short term embargo. They got beat up a lot on the reputation of the 2nd/3rd tier chinese oem 2.x tablets. Then again, the worst android phone I've personally used was a samsung.
