I could see this happening, as it enables chances at the same amount of items being obtainable by different people.

Before: 2 people with 200 Hides each.
Now: 10 people with 40 hides each.

If the rate as you say has been lowered, this should be the result of it due to SE making it available in more areas. Now more people can farm the item, but it drops less, balancing out the amount of items available to the economy.