I can tell you from experience a LOT of time goes into R&D on any new product and the more complicated the product the more R&D.  Think of how much you personally make a year in salary, then figure that in a product like the SIR a fairly high paid group of engineers may work on that project for six months to a year to get it right the first time, add to that the cost of the equipment to make it, the CNC programming time, the cost of the molds to make the plastic parts, then marketing and and advertising to let you all know it even exists.

All these costs have to be figured into the end price of the product and then a reasonable margin for profit, or we pray so.

Yes, sometimes prices do drop after a year or two as the initial production costs have been paid for and every one you make becomes more profitable as time goes on.  If it is a product that stays hot year after year you can earn a very good return, but that is not the case for most products.

Most manufacturers gamble on every dollar they spend in a new product, and how the end users like it and buy it.  Yes part of what you are paying does support the next product, but if it didn't we would not have neat new and improved products for our sport.

It takes quite some time to recover all your manufacturing and R&D costs on most any new product and it is always a gamble.

As you know I distribute the LULA Loader for the M16 and most all the money that has been recovered from that project has been spent on R&D and the molds for the AK version, soon to be out.  It ain't all sugar.

I personally have two SIRS on M16A2 M4s and do not regret a dime I spend on them.  They replaced RAS systems that have been moved to second line guns so they are not wasted money at all.

Denny