Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sad reflection of the realities of manufacturing, I suspect. They won’t ever achieve the kind of scale you’d need to make it cheaper. IMO it is what it is. Especially when you consider the hardware kill switches etc this is a niche product that the right small audience will pay $1.2k for.
It was $700 two years ago and has almost doubled. I have no issue with a $1300 phone (I own one) but generally tech things get cheaper as time passes.
I don't think that applies at all to super small high-skill manufacturing runs.