I think you drastically overestimate how many active players there were for CoH1 7 months after release. It's a rose tinted glasses thing again where you remember an old game you love a bit too good.
Cannot compare COH and COH2 sale numbers @ 7 months after release.
COH was game that not many people bought at start, it was pretty much unknown game. Later on it got great reviews from gaming sites and community, then it took off. Number of players grew steadily, and after 7 years it had pretty strong numbers.
COH2 on the other hand, hit 450,000 sales 2 weeks into its life. Largely due to almost entire COH community buying the game, and strong brand name.
Two completely different situations and circumstances.
Little bit before COH went on steam, it was nothing unusual to see 6-7-8,000 players online. COH2 lost those peak numbers in August already.
Times I usually play (Australia) COH numbers at its death, were usually between 1900-2500, depending on the day. COH2 only 800-1000
Tho I agree that Devs are doing good to fix balance issues quickly, etc.
Decisions to leave out Public chat, public custom games and lobby, introduction of Blizzards and assimetric faction design (Soviets are 2 hard to master for newbie in specific) add to that: half-finished feel the game had and problems with lag, command input, etc, etc.
I think all those just backfired and hit whoever made those decisions, right in between their eyes. Whether they want to admit it or not.
COH1 didn't sell many copies to start with, but finished strongly. COH2 sold a lot, but people left in droves.
None of my friends (real ones) wants to play it and most of my COH buddies don't wanna touch it. Mainly because of public Custom games and lobby.