When's the last time you were at the hardware store and saw a new flashlight on the shelf for 89 bucks and thought, "Wow, that's under a hundred! What a steal!" I bought an emergency flashlight not too long ago. Has a friggin' radio in it, multiple extra functions, backup solar panels, and a hand-crank for giving it a quick, 30-minute charge, and I got it for under ten bucks.
Eventually some company will realize that PVs are effectively no different than half-dozen other products they're already mass producing and selling for comparative pocket change, and really nice stuff, --some of it overly complicated, some of it simplicity itself--, will be sitting on the shelves at your local K-mart for 10 or 20 bucks a pop, and to those companies selling truckloads of $1 flashlights (that actually work) that'll be a considered a cash cow.
Now, on a personal note, yes, I would pay 50 bucks or so right now for a PV, but only if it's some spiffy hand-crafted jobbie, and I'm not talking about some lousy plastic box someone happened to assemble on my behalf (I'm lookin' at you, Madvapes). No, I'm referring to guys like Chosen_1 and his "Ha-Y-N Styled Wood Mods," or Todd's Woodies & Toobies. Stuff like that is unique, and I'm paying for the effort and craftsmanship (not to mention I'm a sucker for wood --no jokes, John!), not the innards that probably cost a buck and some glue.