I've had a look at the figures that so many are discussing here, and I really don't understand what the fuzz is all about:
A Hasselblad H3DII-50 with a 80mm f/2.8 costs $25,000 (Adorama)
A Leica S2 with 70mm f/2.5 costs $27,500
The Hasselblad has a slightly larger sensor than the Leica and roughly 30% more megapixels. It's a camera that, starting with the H1, has been in production for several years. Camera and lenses are made in Japan by Fuji. Nothing wrong with that, but most Fuji cameras are cheaper than most Leica cameras. It's a rather large camera in traditional MF style and weighs 2,300g with lens.
The Leica weighs almost as much as the Hasselblad with lens, at 2,100g (body 1,300g and lens 800g), but it's considerably more compact. Two bodies and a selection of lenses, ready to shoot, can easily be carried in a moderately sized camera bag. It's also smaller than a Nikon D3X. Body and lenses are weather sealed, and has the form factor of a DSLR, which is preferred by millions of photographers worldwide. There is also a vertical grip available. It's a new design, which means that all development costs are also "new". Camera and lenses are, as far as we know, made in Germany.
The Leica lenses are roughly twice as expensive as the Fujinons for the Hasselblad. Some of the Leicas are faster than the corresponding Fujinons.
Both manufacturers have been on the verge of bankruptcy on at least one occasion each, but both have backing from rather wealthy investors at the moment.
While investment in any camera system, particularly MF, is a rather costly operation, and a newly developed one more so than what has been on the market for a while, I cannot see any big differences here. Both systems have advantages and disadvantages versus each other, and Leica would be rather stupid not to make something different. Leica lenses have always been among the most expensive ones, so no surprises there. Again, Leica would be extremely naive not to cash in on their excellent reputation in this area.
But an entrance ticket that is 10% higher for a new system, compared to one that has been on the market for many years isn't much to write home about if you ask me.
Yes, I know that Mamiya is cheaper, but that's nothing new either. People do buy Leica M7 even if a Bessa is cheaper too, and really does the same job.