I don't know if that statistic is correct or not, but if it is, I'll tell you why.
I'm fairly new. I got my Tech ticket a couple of years ago. I have a couple of "Fengs", a TYT MD380, A 2m TYT TH-9000d and a TYT TH-8600. It is what I could afford. I put up a homebrew 2m ground plane in my backyard and I could hit several repeaters. Great...except there was no one to talk to. I wired up my 2m TYT to my Truck and programmed almost every repeater between Est Texas where I live and Casa Grande, AZ where my daughter lives. I've driven that route a few times and ended up talking with only one ham around Tucson. It's not what I hoped. All that said, I got my General Ticket a couple months ago. If all goes well, I'll be on HF in a couple weeks or so. Great. That's about 2 grand minimum. That's steep. I'm sure it can be done a little cheaper as I've researched what I need, but still, it's daunting for a lot of folks. I keep my little 8600 on the local repeater these days and will answer up if I hear someone call. You want to grow the hobby? Talk to the new guys.
My point is, we hype to the new techs (like me once) that this whole new world will open up and you will be able to communicate with the world and the truth is, as a Tech, unless you have access to a 10m rig, you ain't gonna talk to anyone.