There is a class action judgement against Certainteed for Weatherboards installed on or before September 30, 2013. http://www.certainteedfibercementsettlement.com/hc/en-us I've seen the shrinkage and cracking problems for years, the install deadline to take part in the class pretty much assumes they ignored the problem or can't figure it out.

Perhaps cement board siding just isn't a good idea as compared to something like LP SmartSide.

I never heard of LP smartside before. Just looked it up, it does seem like a good product. How does it compare with cost with fiber? Seems like it would be less on labor.

Prefinished Lp costs me around $130 per hundred square feet for one coat, $150-160 for two paint coats with PPG paint. Primed lp is pretty cheap if you want to finish it yourself.

I am putting LP Smartside with DiamondKote finish. It is $1.80/SqFt / $180 a square. For custom painted it is $1.70 any Benjamin Moore color you want (Chicago area).

Is the fiber cement cracking in a climate with ice and snow? In the gulf coast region it is extremely popular, and I haven't seen any issues with it. On the flipside of that Smartside doesn't last here well at all.

Jelly, yes zone 6 and north is where I am and have casually, (without specifically looking for it) seen the defects across the upper midwest. I usually notice it when traveling as alot of the motels are clad in it. And of course in the course of estimating jobs and driving around my area I can find it all over the place.
I don't know if Hardie Board has had any of these issues, there is a large distributor here, same one that is applying Surfsup's diamondKote, that distributed Certainteed, as a result we have an abnormally high concentration of the products they carry due to the convenience to local lumberyards.

A pic of siding that was paid to be replaced, it was the entire 2 story south face of a 5,000+ square foot house, maybe 10 square.

Strange, that's not how I expected the failure to look.

Could that have been caused by the foundation settling?

There wasn't any issues with anything, other than product failure, no possibility of a foundation issue. The house was a brand new (1 1/2 years old, brand new for a $750k) spec house, I pulled off the defective siding and the installation was correct, there was no sign of any moisture issues or water getting behind the siding, the siding was predrilled and handnailed when it was installed, butt joints were flashed. We had access to the unfinished basement which was the bottom 4' high of that defective wall and everything was dry in the cavities checked. The product wasn't noticeably wet although it was summer when I tore it off, but the product expansion and contraction was obviously greater than the product could withstand. This isn't the only house I've seen this happen too, it's all over the place if you look.

Those pictures are from 2007? This house was not a part of this class action suit, new material was provided and an allowance for removal and installation was given.

Ironically this was the house the distributor used for their product brochure and took their promotional photos of the other sides of the house while we were tearing off the south side.

but the product expansion and contraction was obviously greater than the product could withstand

Looks to me like the underlying structure's expansion/contraction was greater than the siding could withstand. There may be ways to attach it to allow more differential movement.