I have read they partnered with ORSoC. That seems a legit and long living company thats trustworthy. But i dont remember to read how much financially KNCMiner is invested into ORSoC. I mean how much money did they put into ORSoC? Partnering could mean that ORSoC is paying the development and creation of the chips out of their own pockets. Were there numbers how much money KNCMiner put into ORSoC somewhere? If its much, and the amount of money KNCMiner got with their preorders isnt much higher, it would be a pretty good sign that KNCMiner is legit. Because they cant run easily.
Only thing to consider then would be the time when the miners are in customers hands.
A partnership doesn't mean you'll put any money into the other company.
The way I see it, KNCMINER will handle the front of the house and ORSoC the back. KNCMINER with take care or orders and payments and ORSoC will bill them, as a supplier.
This way, the risky bit (debt) is with KNCMINER while the profits can stay with ORSoC. If things go pear shaped, bankrupting KNCMINER will be much cheaper (and the profits are more or less safe with ORSoC - I'm sure though that Sweden must have some rule like "money that has been paid by KNCMINER to X,Y,Z within the last xx months needs to be returned and shared amongst all the creditors/state/banks/whatnot", so it's not all bad).