Earlier quoted context omitted.
It should be noted that there's not much fancy tech in a streamdeck, it's just clever use of pretty old tech. It's an LCD and touchscreen with a mask and the buttons are optical-grade-ish plastic with a pad that triggers the touchscreen when the button is pressed. Ford uses something similar in some of their center console screens; there's a wiper under a dial glued to the screen. They do not use individual screens,…
Interesting, I had no idea they were so simple. That could help explain why they haven't produced bigger devices like a full keyboard. The costs likely don't scale as well when you need a screen the size and shape of a keyboard as opposed to the commoditized screens they are using in the smaller devices.
I think what you're really paying for is the software on the host computer side, and how many companies they've gotten to interface with them.
I'd be willing to bet that streamdeck makes a lot of money off sale of metrics they collect - what programs are running, what games people are playing, what they're streaming, and probably more.