I am skeptical too, but i’ve thought about the challenge of building the VCS3 in two parts and either having them plug together, or having them hinged. There would be a lot of obstacles to these designs, though not insurmountable ones.
A flat design might be possible, if you had a stand or rack to present the whole thing vertically at an angle. That’s big too.
Shipping in the current design, means a big ( half empty ) box, and it is a little more daunting for a user to move around. But then consider the KORG MS-20.
I’d have put this post in the Behringer VCS3 thread, but unfortunately that thread was closed on us.
ADDED : No price has been set on this one yet, but given the three vernier controls, the pin-matrix, the joystick, and the electromechanical meter, plus the enclosure, plus the wood if they intend to keep it, and i’d expect this to be a little more expensive than the Behringer price we are used to.