This is just a coincidence, however. Static typing is not where Java fails; Java fails because the language lacks key abstractions and is very verbose as a result. There are plenty of statically-typed languages that are as concise as Perl/Python/Ruby; Haskell immediately comes to mind. (Scala is also good, and compatible with your existing Java.)

Java is an advantage for the corporate world because it lets them look for products and services by filtering on a single word. This advantage has made it very popular.