There was not a whole lot wrong with Stages power meters.  Cyclists like the ease of use, as well as simple set up and installation.  Stages was the first power meter to transmit both the Ant+ and Bluetooth signals making use of a smartphone or a wide variety of popular cycle computers options.  

The only issues discovered were a battery cover that came lose or non-connected on early models, and frame clearance issues with certain bicycles.  These are relatively minor given the nightmare recalls/issues we have experienced with other first generation models in the past.  The Stages was very solid out of the box.

The new generation 2 models are even better.  They made the power meter slimmer by about 17% percent, and also beefed up the housing; more specifically the batter door and connection.  You would be hard pressed to find a frame clearance issue with the gen 2 models.

The kicker is they reduced the price across all of their models- a LOT.  The Dura-Ace 9000 model price dropped $250 from $899 to $649.  The Shimano 105 power meter (non-drive crank arm with power meter) is just $529.

With Powertap introducing two new models, including a crank based system well under $1000, the power meter market is becoming increasingly competitive.  This is putting a lot of pressure on established brands such as SRM, and even new comer Pioneer that is well above the $1000 price point.