I don't think there was ever anything inherently wrong with the iPad 10 on its own, its just it has become the most obvious upsell product for quite some time which is the inconvenience of the Pencil.

Apple could have released a pen-length 140mm Pencil 3 which would probably have been welcomed by existing owners and allowed it to charge on the portrait side. They could have then added landscape cameras to the whole 2022 range.