seeing as how the last few jumps were on the order of 40-50%, this is a welcome change. It also tells us that expected mining profitability is quite low, but still positive as people are bringing some added capacity.
Well, at current bitcoin prices, mining profitability is quite high. So if what you say is true either people are betting on big price drops (in which case they're also betting on bitcoin failing) or this is a retraction as people feel the sting of their gold-rush calculations biting them in the butt after the drop from $32 to $14. Those aren't really well thought out analyses though.
I'm guessing people are just adding more cautiously now, instead of sinking $10,000 - $40,000 at a time, as fast as possible, as recklessly as possible, expecting to have money rain down on you, people are looking for efficient building and taking it slow so as not to lose their families if things turn sour. This is prudent.
