The problem for 3rd party figures, IMO is the way the Poser market is structured. You have a few professionals who probably want something quick & easy to meet a deadline or a budget (I'm assuming). You have a horde of hobbyists who want some thing easy with a lot of associated content that is ready to go. Then you have the dedicated power users who can/will create their own content, convert clothing and textures etc. A 3rd party figure needs lots of the latter group who will essentially do a lot of their own support until - hopefully - the figure catches on.

Maya Doll was pretty successful back in the day, but she was fairly unique, came before the Daz figures were available free, and there were just fewer choices all around. I also think a lot of her support came from the Japanese Poser community. Brad/Antonia et al are great but it seems that a lot of their appeal is technical superiority which may be of less interest to group 2. Miki has been pretty successful but much of her appeal - I think - lies in being a fairly realistic Asian figure, rather than on how well she bends. For better or worse, a figure is not going to achieve widespread popularity based on technical superiority alone, no matter how much that may attract group 3.

As for Daz, the are going to evolve in whatever direction the see the 3D market(s) going. Presumably that's why they've continued to invest in Studio. I doubt it's a cash cow, may not even turn a profit, but it frees them to pursue their goals without being totally tied to Poser. I seriously doubt that they're as stupid as some people seem to think regarding their bottom line. If Genesis turns out to be a New Coke, I'm pretty sure they have a Plan B. Plenty of former HP execs available if they decide they want to f**k up badly enough :-) 

"Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance." - H. L. Mencken