I haven't taken the time to read all the responses, but I'm growing so tired of the pricing debate. There are obvious massive misses in relatively recent tech history (HP Touchpad and to a lesser extent Surface RT), and then there are less obvious situations that are too numerous to list. I think people have nailed it in saying that this isn't intended to be a mainstream phone that everybody could/should buy, despite us WP/Nokia fans wanting it to be a massive sales success.
The fact of the matter is just because a person likes a certain gadget/car/house/boat/plane doesn't mean that the manufacturer should price to get every last potential buyer. If your margins are slim to none "making it up on volume" doesn't exactly work. IMO, if anybody could/should subsidize this it's MSFT and their war chest of cash, not Nokia. Perhaps them bundling the camera grip through the MSFT store is a small example of this.
On the other end of the spectrum has anybody followed the saga of Ouya? Very cool concept, great price point ($99) and an innovative concept (that is now being copied). Unfortunately, outside of the big believers a lot of people are complaining about it being underpowered, quality of the controller, etc. WTF does one expect for $99? I just want to yell "You can't have it all people"...but instead I just move on.
I've been looking forward to this phone for a very long time. I'm pretty sure I'll be upgrading, need to see more low light samples before doing so. If I don't I'll be looking at the Fuji X100s. The X100s is considerably more expensive (and presumably much better quality) than this phone, and probably overkill for me, but that's what I've decided. If buying this for either $300 or $700 on/off contract happens, it will "save" me either $900/$500...so in my opinion that's great value. Probably flawed logic, but they are the buying choices I've settled on.
The price will come down eventually, but for the early adopters that really want this (and can afford it) $300 vs. $100 or $200 isn't exactly a big deal. If the price difference is a big deal then perhaps that person shouldn't be spending $300 on a phone and should consider the lower cost alternatives. Sounds harsh, but economics aren't always "fair" to nobody is entitled to low prices just because they can't afford the market rate. If the market rate is too high the cost will eventually come down or the product will go away because it can't be sold at a profitable enough level. Just my $.02 worth.