The possibility of a bogus part had occurred to me but a windshield would be a tough part to duplicate. I noticed, on re-reading previous posts that I had missed that the windshield had cracked with a very loud noise prior to its total failure. Years back I was overseeing an installation of a new F/O windshield on an L-1011. The mechanic was engaged in torqueing the retainer screws when he slipped a bit and lost his grip on the torque wrench. The pointy drive bit hit the very edge of the glass scratch shield that overlays the entire outer face. It is a very thin, tempered glass sheet that actually is bent and glued down to the curved windshield. It chipped the edge. That thin panel went into bits of glass with a noise that was a loud as a pistol shot. That glass layer played no part in the strength of the windshield. Its only function was to prevent erosions or scratching of the softer (relatively) layer under it.
I have seen cracked laminations in windshields but none of them failed catastrophically. I have seen the results when the internal heating layer failed and left burns an delamination inside but again, no blow-outs. This is a very puzzling failure and I am sure that certain companies are losing some sleep over it.