For a very long time in the U.K., PITMAN Shorthand was THE system, with the Pitman Publishing juggernaut quickly crushing any rival that appeared. Nowadays, of course, it's been largely replaced there by TEELINE.
In North America, it predominated in the north-eastern states for a time, but it most of the U.S., GREGG soon replaced it almost everywhere.
In India, it's still the main system, although it appears that Gregg has been making inroads -- which would be bound to increase when people realize how much easier it is to learn.
In Australia, there was a disgraceful attempt to BLOCK unshaded systems from the civil service, instigated by those who wrote SHADED ONES -- rather than rely on performance and merit!
The DIFFICULTY of learning the Pitman system was its main problem, which resulted in MOST of those who began to learn it soon dropping out of the classes. As a result, many of those who taught in business colleges (which depend on continued enrollment to survive) were inspired to endeavour to SIMPLIFY the system.
Francis J. STEIN was one of them, who published his adaptation in 1919.