They've been working on staking and sharding for years and have shown no results on those fronts. This update is insignificant. This is not normal. There is something seriously wrong with the development process. IMO, they have been infiltrated by saboteurs and their project has become corrupted.
Unfortunately, this is not something which can be fixed. The corruption exists at every level of the project; all their developers and miners are happy to have an inefficient blockchain as it allows miners to collect high fees. The leaders of the project want to stretch out development as long as possible so that they can drain the Ethereum Foundation's coffers at a rate which won't attract the attention of regulators. The top developers are corrupt and just want to increase their salaries and get promotions by collecting dirt and using extortion instead of delivering results. They hire new people who they believe can be corrupted to join their side... As someone who works in the blockchain industry, I can say that it's a total mess in there. The more valuable the project, the more corrupt it is.
Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Money is power. Ethereum is money. QED.
They will never deliver anything meaningful. Never.