It should be noted, though, that a quick Google search suggests these boards start at about £280 including VAT, much more than an equivalently specced "normal" motherboard.
Prices in the UK tend to be a bit higher than on the European mainland but you can definitely find much better pricing for long-term available mainboards.
Since I mentioned Kontron, here is an example:
http://www.dpieshop.com/kontron-ktq87mitx-industrial-miniitx-intel-core-i3-i5-i7-socket-lga1150-motherboard-p-1281.html230 GBP (incl. VAT) - This price is for
single unit purchases! And this is certainly not the lowest price I have seen.
If A-Eon or Amigakit were to use these, they'd have people complaining about having to use years-old x86 motherboards when there are much cheaper brand-new ones out there.
So, your argument appears to be that because some people might perhaps object to pay 50% more for extra durable and long-term available hardware, it is better to continue to sell hardware that costs 1000% more (and is notably slower).
Please do correct me if I misunderstood.
Either way, they can't please everybody, so better to do what they are doing I think - make a design decision (i.e. custom PPC motherboards) and stick to it. Better than to keep changing direction.
Failure to learn from mistakes and to adapt in a timely manner has killed many former industry leaders, including Commodore.
If you realize that an on-going project will not help you reach your goals afterall, I see no point in "sticking with" what you realized is ultimately a bad plan.
The question is what the motivation of the A-Eon management is. If the goal is to sell premium specialty mainboards to hobby enthusiasts, then I see no point to switch to x86 processors (for future custom mainboard designs) or to pre-designed industrial mainboards.
If, however, the company's primary mission is to nurture the development and market adoption of an operating system, then the situation would be very different, of course.