Keeping in mind that gamers said something similar of pretty much each edition's authors, while many more said they loved those same changes.
True, but there are some significant differences this time around.
4th Edition split the 3.5 Ed market. About half went to Pathfinder, and half went to 4th Ed.
Hasbro further limited the support for their line by handcuffing what made 3.5 so popular. They changed the OGL model, making it a very expensive and risky proposition for any publisher to make 4th Ed compatable material.
I believe it was even documented many months ago that Pathfinder sales have surpassed D&D.
So now Hasbro has a product that only has at best 50% of the market it once had, and sales are not significantly increasing significantly (if at all).
Now for most gaming companies, the amount of people buying 4th edition still makes the product a viable and profitable market. But we are talking about Hasbro... their management only understands line charts and bar graphs as they relate to profit.
Making 5th edition will not help them. Pathfinder solidly has the 3.5 players. In making 5th edition, Hasbro has 4 choices:
1. Improve 4th edition, while making 5th edition backwards compatable to 4th edition. (I'm not sure why they would do this though as their 4th edition players are already quite loyal and probably would be split between those that refuse to upgrade and those who welcome it. Regardless, less sales would ensue, and they will still not attract the 3.5 players.)
2. Keep 4th edition, and make a "Classic D&D" edition, which would essentially be 3.5, reworked in a similar fashion as Pathfinder. The problem here, is Pathfinder already has a loyal fanbase. They would only be taking back a portion of the 3.5 market, however now they have to support 2 product lines.
3. Do nothing. Keep supporting 4th edition and don't consider a new edition. Accept the lower sales figures. (However, this is not something Hasbro can do.)
4. Since none of the above are viable. Sell the licence.
Of course, there is always hidden option #5. Completely design a whole new set of rules that work for everyone. These rules would not be compatable with 3.5 or 4.0. These would be a totally new take on D&D game mechanics, but would be the best RPG system ever designed. Both 3.5 and 4.0 players would agree that, although they would miss game system that they have known and loved for so many years, that this new system is far superior.