Personally I don't think the chip making strategy is the issue, its in what kind of devices they use them in. If they use Exynos chips in 500 - 700€ Devices its fine. 75% of the peformance for 50% the price - thats cool. Just keep them out from the 1000€+ stuff.
I mean, that's a good idea.
But they generate so much heat that mid-range devices just won't work. The issue, as far as I have seen, is heating. The performance is good for, as you said, mid-range devices.
They kinda miss the point why people don't like Exynos.
Not only it's generally inferior, but you also pay the same for the worse product which also has the same name. And it depends on where you live, lol.
I wouldn't mind existence of Exynos in, let's say, S21 Ultra, if it was either cheaper, or there was a legit choice which version to purchase, or even better, both. I definitely dislike paying full price for worse product with no realistic choice, and the name doesn't matter at all.