On what are you basing that? Compared to 4e, you're right. I think at this point, though, a lot of people consider 3e to be the entire body of supplements released under the official label. That's really complicated. But if I just pull out my 3.0 core books and try to make a fighter, rogue, cleric, or wizard, I find it much simpler than doing so with the 5e playtest. Even when I was a teenager who had never owned a D&D book or made a character or DMed before, I found those initial core releases very straightforward and intuitive.
Which is why I'm concerned by the amount of head-scratching my 5e playtest docs caused me.
And if what you're saying is that 5e is simpler than the whole monstrosity of releases for either 3e or 4e, that's the old being the thinnest kid at fat camp scenario.