Logistically it creates a slower moving SP. As there are more walls to break through.
Although not exactly 5x as difficult there are certainly more points to buy in at and therefore more stable SP from short attacks.
On the subject of ORE it is likely that the SP was going down anyway based on unfavourable news and instos hitting targets.
My sentiment is that they are different companies with different contexts and those differences are enough explaination for the recent activity.