My guess is that theyve only recently been asked by handset manufacturers to consider non-ARM chips, for example this would be a great way for Qualcomm to gain leverage over ARM given the recent lawsuit
But the change from ignoring risc-v contributions to saying it's important probably did come from a significant SoC manufacturer pushing for it, yeah.
Alt: https://linuxgizmos.com/lichee-pi-4a-risc-v-platform-availab...
At the bottom they say they have a tablet and phone planned, though no info on when.