So PSEye is confirmed to not be a standard? I didn't know this...
8GB GDDR5 is about the only "expensive" thing I can think of. The GPU is good but not crazy for 2013. No cell, no new blu-ray, should be cheaper than a launch PS3 which had a $500 SKU.
I don't know much about inflation, but 2 year after PS3 launch there was economic bullshit, deflation and stagnation. Also, what are people willing to pay for today? $500 is pushing it, they need a $400 SKU at least, if not cheaper, IMO. I could see $430 as someone said though.
It'll still be nowhere near what the BOM for the PS3. That cost them $840 dollars to make at launch and they sold it at a gigantic loss.
This, basically. For $500 I'd expect the kind of system Xbone fans were dreaming about prior to the reveal with a 2.0+ TFLOP GPU.
Sony has been preaching about affordability every time they're asked about the price which is a stark contrast from telling everyone to get 2 jobs back in 2006.