I honestly don't think this means anything one way or another. It seems to follow suite with past devices. These firmware are most likely in regard to Garmin's internal testing; it's just interesting to see how they progress.
My guess is still late March based on what I've been reading, although I have no real insight.
Late Feb/Very Early March - first batch of units (probably less than 50-100 total to market)
End of March - Slightly bigger batch (100's of units)
April - full swing of all units
Garmin has (for the Fenix lines) sent out a small batch to begin with prior to the full launch. Likely to test firmwares on a wide(r) scale.
Is this speculation, or do you have a source?
it's the historical pattern. due to Chinese new year shutting down production from around now for another 2 weeks it is true that it is almost impossible we will see the fenix until at earliest the last half of February and if so in very, very, very small quantities. typically the first month of deliveries of a new fenix have been exercises in frustration with very, very small supply drops and not of every model. it will be even more difficult this time around with 3 models + all the versions + the versions with bundles of each model, i ordered on the 12th (about 4 days or so after the announcement) and i'd be surprised to see mine before April, hopefully garmin will prove us wrong but i'm not super hopeful.
Anyone have any idea how early Amazon has new Garmin devices in stock over say REI, Clever Training, B&H, etc? Just wondering if there has been a trend historically.