My impression is that nearly nobody begins playing with a group of people composed solely of people who haven't played before. New players are almost always introduced by an experienced player, who does have strong opinions about what companies to support.
Reposting a bit I wrote last night in the last thread:
Every game master, without exception, is a content creator. Most of them want to try new systems just to see what they are like. If they decide to go to other systems, that’s it for D&D. They can make all of the movies and books they want, but that won’t make people DM it.
We’re not in the era where people buy the box set and try out this new hobby; almost all new players will join experienced groups. The people deepest into the guild, the person willing to GM, ultimately decides what everyone plays.
