Interestingly, our dealer said it took them close to 4 hours to install the full rolled out backsplash. Running a length that long was a challenge for them to get it started straight and keep all the lines perfectly horizontal to the counter and cabinets for eye appeal. They started and stopped several times (good thing the factory sent them a full roll of it) then decides to mount it on thin sheet of aluminum, take the microwave off, and install the full sheet at one time, then molded it out nicely.
So Jim, your point about factory time on the line getting that done quickly may indeed have played into the change.
One other note - we also weren't a fan of the gold/orange globes you see hanging over the island in the original backsplash pic, as we had seen nice white ones in one of their website pics ... so our dealer contacted the factory for us, who gladly sent out replacement white globes - we like much better.