I can well believe that the scanbox is at a stage where there's simply not that much left for the guys to do except wait for the manufacturing to turn around. Why not start another project if they've got the time for it?
Well, yes. That's the point. In a month's time, they might be snowed, but until then, they're kicking their heels. If they get the timing right, they can be dealing with the shipping for scanbox while waiting for Lifx to get funded.