A quick buck? The founder was ditched by all VCs. Prices are this high due to low volume production so they don't get huge volume discounts. The display tech is a great step forward: No blue light, high refresh rate, perfect readability in sun light, ePaper like legibility. Maybe it's not for you, that's okay.
If you don't want Pixels, maybe OnePlus is acceptable? https://service.oneplus.com/us/search/search-detail?id=2085382&articleIndex=1