[underscoremark]

I think the questions you ask demonstrate that you already understand the issue completely.

[oblio]

I'm just a noob asking questions and I'm having a very hard time detecting sarcasm on the internet these days - can you elaborate a bit, please? :-)

[underscoremark]

No sarcasm. Thanks for asking (no sarcasm, again).

You asked the right questions, IMO, and I think they are self evident.

> do they fill the exact same space?

No.

> is Blender adopted by different types of companies?

Yes.

A company or institution that has money to burn will opt for more "professional" suites (Maya, Microsoft, ...). Smaller entities will use the cheaper alternatives (Blender, Linux, ...).