Canonical is not a stranger to idiotic business decisions.(See also Unity and their subsequent losing of ground to Mint)
That, combined with their utter inability to take community feedback into account, really makes me wonder whenever they do something like this. It's like traditional logic doesn't apply.
I'm not angry that Canonical has not dedicated a staff member to Lubuntu or Xubuntu, why should I rage over Canonical not having a staff member dedicated to Kubuntu? The community is doing a fine job.
I have no problem with Unity and if I did, I have no problem installing Xfce either.
My impression, with no basis in actual facts, is that they spend more than they take in. How many zillions of users do they have, and how many of those actually need support from Canonical, especially when they can get varying degrees of support from anyone with Linux knowledge.
Ubuntu Server is becoming more and more popular. While the Red Hat "wait five years between releases" model works for some applications, it is actually not very good for people developing new web-based programs. There is a lot of appreciation for a server-style OS that updates more frequently (semi-annually in Ubuntu's case), and Ubuntu offers contracts (supposedly) comparable to what you would get with RHEL so you can still keep the CYA business guys happy (and get support, I guess, if you need it).
That, combined with their utter inability to take community feedback into account, really makes me wonder whenever they do something like this. It's like traditional logic doesn't apply.