I'm not the least shocked by this claim, especially after reading countless people explaining you can sub for the price of gold plus a dollar. And based on the current direction / efforts of MS, I don't think its (claimed) lack of profitability at this time matters at all with respect to the life of the service. It is not going anywhere, at least not anytime soon, but I do expect the narrative will be changing from best value to a premium service on console (with a premium price to match), because I doubt MS wants to take a loss over the lifespan of the Series S/X.
I'm expecting it to be treated as a premium service eventually, because I remain skeptical that casuals will want to pay what it costs when its really pumping out new gen content the casuals want. Year 1 of next GP will have cost $180 (give or take) before Halo ships, and only 1/2 of that game will require a sub or purchase because MP is free (I think anyway). That's a lot to charge for little (if you want new gen games), so I fully expect the price to rise once the pipeline includes even a handful of big Series X first party games per year. How much is TBD, but that aborted Gold price hike cannot be ignored. Nor can I ignore how they thought of Gold first, charged me a couple hundred to upgrade my 360 storage, or now charge me a subscription for office when I used to buy it every few years.
I really do hope I am wrong, and that after 2-3 years this service lives up to the hype. I'd love to save money while still playing the games I want the most. But I am extremely skeptical that MS will take a loss after the first couple years of this gen, and that makes me believe it will be pitched as a premium product, with a premium price, within a couple years.