Even leaked versions of the 4.0.4 update to the WWE One X were in demand because of the large performance improvement on benchmarks and smoother interaction. That's actually a true case. Although partially due to things like less 3D in the launcher.
I don't know what was done in this case, but I do think I remember seeing a statement by NVIDIA on early benchmarks at release that they still had optimizations to do. So that could be involved.
It hasn't been unknown in the mobile world for wacky stuff to get done, like having a dual core processor where you almost never use the second core to save batteries as well. So software can make a big difference.
I don't know what was done in this case, but I do think I remember seeing a statement by NVIDIA on early benchmarks at release that they still had optimizations to do. So that could be involved.
It hasn't been unknown in the mobile world for wacky stuff to get done, like having a dual core processor where you almost never use the second core to save batteries as well. So software can make a big difference.