Minimal never stole any crowd.
Those that walked away from techno and hopped to minimal, were never into the former beyond it being something to go clubbing to. They will hop to the next fashion when it occurs.
Minimal is just house mostly, and the house crowd dig it.
But again, I think people are looking in the wrong direction.
Pure Techno has always been underground, and probably always will, it is an aqquired taste, and doesn`t pander to the masses, it became fashionable for a while, and now has gone back underground.
Clubs will always go for the money maker, minimal again, is not to blame.
Also I think techno has evolved, and a lot of what I would consider to be techno these days, most die hard techno fans wouldn`t call techno, because it doesn`t fit their narrow brackets.
I think the main complaint can be translated to "why hasn`t techno stayed exactly the same as it always was?"
The answer?
Because that isn`t what techno is about.