I dont think R & D is anything to do with it, the price does not decrease as the R & D is paid for does it? 
(Like TV's and new electrical goods), I agree getting the MAF scaling is to do with R & D the rest is to do with marketing and what they can charge and get away with, it's more likely like the Re-maps, it's proven that people will pay for it especially if it has a brand name attached to it that people know/like 
, this is more marketing than R & D.
If a product from company A is proved shown to give 15bhp and the product from B is proved shown to give 17-19 bhp they can price it how they like 
as the willy wavers will be all over it 
Personally I agree that most of them are over-priced for what they are, it is part of the reason I did not buy one of the mainstream high priced products available.
APR's latest claim of 30bhp on the Golf R seems a little high to me, Its easy to push the engine to the limit on std airbox and then slap on "their" new amazing product
and lo and behold its gives massive figures........... 
....Oh good! That's better - Something I don't agree with you on again at last 
We can debate this until the cows come home but I do think that rather than dismiss products just because they are offered by a mainstream established company (as you seem to be doing) is unjustifiable and narrows down your options.
Personally, choosing products from a known brand gives me a lot of confidence based on what that brand represents. Hence my choice of APR over Autotech HPFP, just for example.
I Knew that post wouuld get us back on track Robin
It is not 100% to do with them being "Mainstream" or "established" its more the overall feeling you get, your just a profit margin (A good one!), dont appear to be valued and everyone else and his dog has one and a few of them look cheapo but cost big money (for what they are anyway), I also like to support new companies who bring something new to the table, something that perhaps everyone can
afford justify spending on their car, I also like to try out new products that not everyone has, it may be that there is a product that is not heavily advertised or pushed by tuners that does the same thing.
Your right we can argue this one and I am sure come October at JKM we probably will discuss it
bottom line is you like big names/reliable and pricey products, I prefer supporting smaller companies, trying new products and being a bit different and saving money to spend on other things.
I would agree tho I would change the whole pump rather than do internals after reading some of the forums, but then I could not bear paying money to a large company like APR so would have to wait for a used one to come up for sale
