Because nobody expects kde to work anymore? Seriously, the hue and cry you
mention took place awhile ago, when the disastrous 4.0 was released and most
kde users defected en masse. Few have ventured back. Most, like me, have
found gnome or other desktop environments agreeable. I'm not convinced the
kde devs are concerned with normal users anymore.
Back in the days of kde 3.5.x, kde was the overwhelming favorite desktop, as
indicated by the various polls on the subject. In the aftermath of the 4.x
release, the popularity of kde was way down there with twm, last I checked.