From Trimble’s point of view, they have gambled on SU - taking financial risks, considering the development history baggage - free for many years, now needing to earn it’s way.
I see the subscription as more about gaining new users - may be critical to robust SU development continuity.
Comments regarding the SU kernel / core being slower than the competition do concern me, but this example does put that in some perspective -
Calgary company (Jayman Built) - 83% production time reduction switching from traditional CAD on a $300M project (and 82% cheaper than CAD / Revit)!!!
So it appears in this case, the advantages still outweigh the disadvantages significantly (with traditional CAD).