I suppose both brands have been going lower and lower with their link design, starting in about 2000 both brands shock placements would get lower year after year.
The prototype for the new enduro was first being produced about 3 years ago actually, that's even before the new Demo or maybe before the gen 4 Nomads were being made into prototypes. It's hard to say who made it first, but Specialized has been spending a lot more time on their lower link design making it arguably better than...