Let's be honest, not many people do (in proportion to other nintendo games), judging by the sales
This is the general problem. It's not that the series sells poorly. It just doesn't sell to the kiddos, so it doesn't reach obscene Mario levels of sales. I think it has a reputation as being harder than their other franchises, but it's not really any harder over the lifespan of the series. It's still a profit turner though and popular.
So you have a successful, well selling series that is always in danger of vanishing because of out of proportion standards of sales. And it represents some of the best games in all of gaming, let alone Nintendo's catalog.
Silly TV ANAOLOGY TIME: It's Nintendo's Mad Men/Sopranos, but Nintendo got used to being an American Idol/Everybody Loves Raymond sort of company. They aren't a HBO company. Andy is an American Idol customer, so he doesn't get the concern over standards and lineage, or just plain existing and being appreciated.