That brand new shiney Kinect that you just paid $150 dollars for? Only cost Microsoft a mere $56 dollars to make said UBM TechInsights. The biggest chunk of said money is spent on the "reference system" that includes the processor, microphones and cameras that go into this technology.
We here at Gameshoe appreciate making a profit, lord knows we don't do it here, but $100 dollar profit on each system sold? That's a little bit high if you ask us. Nevertheless, Microsoft plans on selling 5 million of these babies around Christmas time. Let's hope all that 'profit' goes into developing a badass next-gen console.