As Jerry pointed out, Tamiya is a privately held company. 1/16 RC tanks is entirely a pet-project of Shunsaku Tamiya. If you accounted for sales in their departments, from a business standpoint, we wouldn't have a hobby today becuase Tamiya wouldn't make them and then there would be no knock-offs. In his book, the Tiger I holds a special place in his heart, but the 4WD racers saved the company. Military models remain a big part of their business, but a 1/48 Fiesler Storch is much more important to their bottom line.
Mr. Tamiya has retired to an advisory position, once he's gone, I doubt we'll see any new tanks. No one buys 1/16, if they did, the Kubel would still be on shelves. They make plenty in 1/72, 1/48 and 1/35.
As Dan stated above, Tamiya is the yardstick, and it's always hammered on price, so any commers should be compared on that alone. This Sherman, as was the Taigen, will always be looked at that first. If you don't want to be compared to Tamiya, release something Tamiya hasn't. No one compared Xion's Kettenkrad to Tamiya. And apparently, no one but me and Rivetcounter bought one either, so they're no longer in production.