I think they are 'unpopular' [if they are: I love them] due to a combination of factors. One of which is the fact that they were not readily accessable in our country until after the wall came down in 1989. Another is that there parent company didn't put the advertising blitz on that we saw from Glock, Sig, H&K, or Kimber. A third is that they ARE a 25 year old 'commie' design. [I do love them, but they were designed in a communist nation] A fourth is that they didn't have the most stable distribution system until CZ-USA was set up [1996?]. And, of course, they don't have the 'bragging' rights that we see in the other 'popular' pistols. After all, which military or law enforcement organization is advertized as using the CZ75? Now, how about the Glock? Sig? H&K? Beretta? Springfield?
CZ has been making a lot of strides toward 'popularity' in the past couple of years. One of the hardest things to do for them is to overcome gunstore buyers' financial bottom line: Brand name recognition translates to easier sales, translates to faster movement of inventory. From a business perspective, I would want to stock 10 items of a brand everyone knows and loves before taking a risk on 1 that is not well known. The CZ takes more 'salesmanship' to sell: glocks reputation sells itself many times.
One thing to keep in mind is that popular doesn't mean jack ****. People like something for no concrete reason other than image a lot of the time. CZ's are about quality and performance first. As long as CZ gets enough business to stay in business, I wouldn't worry about the popularity issue.
I have to admit that, despite loving the CZ, I don't own one. In fact, I recently bought a cz-clone, a Baby Eagle. There is only one problem with the CZ lineup, as far as I'm concerned. The problem is the 'trigger reach'. I don't feel that I can control the trigger in the DA mode on the CZ. I know I can 'cock and lock' or just cock or even 'stage' on the first notch, but I want to be able to control the trigger in ALL positions. The Baby Eagle uses the same system [basically] and the trigger is just a hair closer to the grip: thus giving me that control I want.
jmstr