http://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/north-america-is-crazy-for-lego-toys-and-manufacturer-cant-keep-up-180960395/?no-istSo this is why Bionicle failed. They intentionally cut marketing on all of their products in order to keep up with demand for other (read: licensed) themes. Bionicle just so happened to be the odd one out to just be completely canned.
This is why they hoped that the fans would do the marketing for them. This is why Bionicle G2 failed. Because LEGO is so fucking popular that they can't keep up with demand.