I doubt that (battery). I suspect it's because Apple's approach is based on the ring strategy. Any focus on "steps" is a step away from the rings. I could be wrong of course.
I agree, the steps is just one of Apple’s rings. I like having a steps counter as the rings really never did it for me, I know I stand almost all day so I don’t need to fill my rings up for standing lol and also I get plenty of exercise and burn plenty of calories as I’m in the fitness industry so that’s another ring that doesn’t really do anything for me either. I do like to see that I’m hitting at least 10k steps a day though so a dedicated steps counter is perfect for my needs!