Wow, all 3 RCBS progressive press owners in the same thread....be honest, green progressives are just not popular. Never have been. They've tried, but for some reason they only appeal to a very tiny minority.
Haha! Just 3? There might be 6 on all the reloading forums.
I don't think it is any secret that RCBS makes some of the best reloading equipment, and has been doing so since forever.
The have lacked in the progressive arena for some reason, that is certain, as you say. They have not came up with winners like the Dillons(all winners), or the LnL AP.
Green machine, piggy back and I believe one other that was a dedicated progressive, all pretty much failed to catch on mostly because they were fussy as hell(read in the archives, there is very little boasting, mostly moaning about them in very few threads). Reloaders don't forget, I read here and at TFL and a couple other places like arfcom, the RCBS 2000 guys are very scarce.
It is going to take at least one more redesign before they catch up, I suspect. It has nothing to do with APS, they are flawed because almost everything that happens on the press is in the same place.
People that shoot competitively aren't going to build their own case feeding mechanisms nor mess with loading strips when they can load tubes at the bench faster than they can use them and the Dillon case feed system is excellent.
Folks that do a lot of comp shooting load up 3k rounds in a short afternoon on a 650 with almost no effort, comparatively. The RCBS is every bit as expensive as a 650 but significantly slower. That is the bottom line. When and if they build a better mouse trap they will sell like hot cakes.