On that (being HighCaliber's husband) yes I believed for many years, ever since Sig began having so much success with the the P938, that HK was really missing out on this market segment. Regardless that governments weren't requesting it, the apparent usual standard.
There is zero reason HK couldn't have engineered a reliable 9mm of this approximate size and with comparable ergonomics as the P938.
Many years and a whole lot of money in sales later, now HK is trying which is good, but personally it seems very generic and to me not as ergonomic. But for those who like it, very good! Surely it will be more reliable than the Sig.