True, and that 4-pin SR-only subsystem could easily be driven by an 8 pin PIC but it ends up using the same number of ICs as a PIC+SR subsystem solution.
And let's not forget that a PIC+SR subsystem could provide a 1-pin or 2-pin Serial interface, 2-pin I2C interface, 3-pin SPI interface, or an IR interface for that 8 pin PIC project as well as full fade-to-black PWM brightness control, Clock/Calendar/Alarm/Timer functions, one-wire® bus (temperature sensors, RTC, ADC, etc.), fully debounced single-pin keypad matrix, switch press beep, ad infinitum.