Samsung Series 5 cost $334.32 to make.[1] Your price expectations are way off.
[1]http://www.thechromesource.com/with-what-it-costs-to-make-is...
[1]http://www.thechromesource.com/with-what-it-costs-to-make-is...
His expectations aren't off, the manufacturing limitations just don't meet them.
Which would be silly because their "OS" is much more limited than Windows 7, even the Starter version, and its only compelling feature would be to run on much cheaper hardware.
These things would sell like hotcakes for $200 and Google would grow in users and advertising revenue. I was just surprised that they're selling near netbook prices considering they're limited devices and tied so tightly into Google Services. I don't see them disrupting the mobile device industry with Chromebooks unless they decide that # of users is much more important than profit per sale.