I would agree that this is mostly likely a conservative estimate from management. I'm not sure this timeline is a "kick in the teeth" since we have been aware of it for many months now. I think it's important to highlight the below message from the NR. "The pace of progress has rapidly increased" This gives me some hope, that we can therefore anticipate an expedited path to commercialisation, assuming no more 'spanners in the works'.

 I am pleased to announce that we have achieved a very significant milestone for the Company – successfully demonstrating the functionality of our Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) for the integrated GaAs opto-electronic platform. After establishing a second supplier for the proprietary epitaxial stack, we were able to complete the first phase of epitaxial design optimization in January 2017, followed by VCSEL fabrication and validation of its functionality and performance. The pace of progress has rapidly increased with the resumed development cycles at our epitaxial wafer vendor and our foundry partner in Taiwan, helping to further advance the development of our fully integrated optical engine.  The development program for the POET photonic engine continues to be focused on single-chip transceivers for the Active Optical Cable (AOC) market.”