I dont think that is a new technique. Just dodgy soldering.
Solder should form a fillet, not a ball. Thermal expansion and contraction, potentially even vibration, will wreak havoc with those joints over time leading to unreliability, which you are now experiencing.
Probably its a combination of poor quality solder, poor reflow profile, tarnished pads on the package, perhaps because they havent been stored or handled properly or maybe because they are counterfeit and thus substandard manufacturing quality. If its a cheap item, its no wonder really.