The proposal to decrease Factory Cabs to free up boot rom was made by unify forum members, I`m sure Cliff did`nt overlooked that. As long he did not chime in to give a statement on this, a further discussion is like riding a dead horse, IMO
Beyond this i wish at least for future devices, cab data would be handled like presets: factory cabs will be stored like presets are, exclusive on a flash memory location, user can override for themself, if wanted. Since the MK1/MK2, even mor for the AX8 and XL/XL+ there are enough space for, what nowdays is called "user cabs". we even do not differ between "Factory Presets" and "User Presets", although you can grab Presets, made by FAS from the download page and/or the internal backup places from the Axe II. I wish this paradigm for the pre-loaded presets will be also seen for cabs in the future, "factory cabs" as download and pre-installed, but no more difference in handling "factory" and "user" - as it is with presets.
It may not be that painful to scroll every time through 130+ slots, till you reach your user cabs or the cab location you prefer. But the freedom of self arrangement, where and which cabs are locally on the machine and on which slot should be as cofortable like it is with the preset handling.
Just a suggestion to think about for the future...