Yes that's what I said in my last sentence ...
The point is that there is a (semantic) difference between "Cree is lagging in efficiency" and "Citizen is cheaper so we can buy more, run them softer and get the same (or better) efficiency at a lower price"
No, they are cheaper and more efficient 1:1, one cob vs one cob, same wattage. Search harder.
One point of interest you almost made, but didn't quite get there, is that Cree has a much lower die density than Citizen. Does that make Citizen cheap or Cree expensive? Don't know, don't care. It does mean Citizen "needs" twice as many dies to win the efficiency battle, but it also means Cree fades very early when run above 50W, and the Citizens can be run at much healthier wattages without as much droop.
The 1818 is only a 22mm LES, but by your logic we shouldn't even be comparing it to the "huge" CXB3590 with it's 30mm LES. That is completely nonsensical. I think you just like to argue. Size of the LES, number of dies, blah blah blah, doesn't matter. The only questions that matter to anybody: how much does it cost, how much light does it make? The rest is just figuring out cooling, optics, and drivers, which can be more difficult off the beaten path.
Regardless, I look forward to a higher watt chip from Cree, I think it should kick everybody's ass if they can keep the retail prices in check.