[MrQuincle]

I think there's a use case for all kinds of price levels, but there's a sweet spot.

Anecdotally. I bought a 3D printer when it dropped below 1000 bucks. I bought the Emotiv Epoc when at 300 bucks. I bought a Saleae logic analyser at the same price level if I remember correctly. Same with other tools or toys. The HackRF, the Kinect, the Quest, etc.

The higher the price the more you'll have to explain to people how they can justify the costs. You'll have to explain how much personnel hours are being saved, etc.

The more I'm in this space (of manufacturing electronic devices) the more I'm convinced Bill of Material (BOM) and in general Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) optimization is essential. Companies that can do this in a lean manner without excessive engineering costs to do so can truly drive the price down.

If there is this operational excellence, then you can truly give most power to your strategists in the sales and marketing departments. Otherwise, they have no tradeoffs to consider and are just victims of sloppy (non-cost conscious) engineering.