<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by monahos:
$26-80K sounds ridiculously high for a seat alone. This must be an average cost per seat including upgrading the entire cabin, AV system, etc.
A high-end car seat with leather, side airbag, massager, and full power is $1-2K at cost for a carmaker. Some of those car seats have magnesium frames, belt tensioners, built-in 3-point seatbelts (with reinforced seatbacks), active headrests, and fans; a business class seat can safely assumed to be no more complex than that.
In-seat entertainment systems, not being standardized, must carry high development costs and margins. The cost of the electronics involved is relatively minor, with a 15" TFT being around $350 at cost these days.</font>
You are forgetting that we are talking about airplane seats, not car seats. All things avaiation are *very* expensive.
Don't even think about saying that since a similair item for a car cost x, it must cost x or close to x in an airplane. Its not even *close*.