...The advertised price out of New Zealand, where it is claimed the Alfine 11 is available, was around $720USD....
That price includes a VAT, that should put the US price at ~$600.
...And yet the initial release of Shimano's 3-, 7- and 8-speed hubs were all problematic.
That's true, and Rohloff has a 10% out of box failure rate, yet people gush over it, go figure....