I think the problem is that it is priced for new players to buy and then have a certain amount of them continue to buy other products that are more profitable. It isn't doing that, so they should reconfigure it to be profitable to be able to keep it in stores.
If that's the case, then arguably part of the problem is the entire line. If a game's profitability relies not on just being sold, but on converting players from someone who buys & plays a game to someone who
collects a game, then there needs to be a very clear and accessible product to transition on to.
If you have a collectible game, like the old MWDA for example, you buy a starter, then you buy boosters. That's it. Maybe there's boosters from different sets, some older, some newer, different collections, but it's pretty simple.
I know the Intro box has a big pamphlet on the next thing to jump on to. But what does the player actually buy?
Let's say they buy Total Warfare. How does this book benefit them? It adds a bunch of technology, unit types and optional rules to add to their game. One problem, none of the mechs in the intro box have this technology. It has no vehicles, no infantry, no anything. They can't even use the advanced technology because construction information is missing so even though they have construction rules into the intro set, Total Warfare doesn't add on to them. I don't believe the intro box has any buildings either, so all of those rules for cities is of no benefit either.
They can buy 3039, but again, all the vehicles, aerospace, etcetera are useless to them. They add some of the new mechs using the construction rules, and guess at some of the variants, but making these by hand will be a lot of work.
Only record sheets 3039 will directly add to their game in one go, but I'm not sure that's in stores. And again no vehicles & aerospace rules.
So either way, it's a 2-step process, an arguably confusing 2-step process to expand the game. Finances aside, that's another barrier to collecting that a lot of players may not bother to surmount.