(Doesn't have a team like that) = stick to mass-use, commodity hardware

That's generally been the trade-off since ~1970. And usually, the performance isn't worth the people-salaries.

How many examples of successful hardware that isn't well-documented and doesn't have drop-in 1:1 SDK coverage vs (more popular solution) are there?

It seems like a heavy-lift to even get something that does have parity in those ways adopted, given you're fighting market inertia.