This may or may not be so. For one thing, implementation and deployment have a lot more to do with timing than anything else. I've seen plenty of instances of new features being implemented quite rapidly.
Deployment is a trickier proposition than implementation.
Users will decide whether or not they need to upgrade on an individual basis. The problem with building something completely new is that there's a very real chance that essentially nobody will implement it. So suppose this turns into a choice between rapid uptake of an enhancement to alternative in several key clients versus new facility that remains unimplemented for the forseeable future.