1) Higher margins = more revenue per sale. E.g. if Shimano makes $1000 in profit off of a single Di2 groupset sale, but only $150 off of a 105 sale, then selling one Di2 groupset produces as much profit as over 6 sales of the 105.

2) At the moment, they are largely recouping the R&D. Once that is largely covered, they can reduce the costs, and thus the price. In Shimano's case, they usually do this by trickling down advancements over the year, e.g. the upcoming electronic Ultegra.

3) A super-expensive item in the lineup often makes other items seem more reasonable in comparison. Similarly, the initial high price may act like an "anchor," which will make less expensive iterations seem more reasonable.

4) They don't need to sell millions of Di2 groupsets right now. Although many companies are obsessed by today's bottom line, you don't get into a multi-year R&D project like this for short-term gain. So, they may be aiming for higher-margin sales and/or a competitive selling-point 5+ years down the road.

5) Just because you choose not to spend a large sum of money on parts (an eminently reasonable position), that doesn't mean no one else will. A $350,000 hand-crafted Swiss watch is well beyond my means, but that doesn't mean no one in the world is willing and able to buy one -- or that the people who sell them are "nuts."


I do agree that releasing a high-priced Di2 is a risky move, but it isn't crazy -- certainly no more than SRAM jumping into the high end of the road market....