Not everyone is into DIY.
If Hypex direct sold instead of charging the big cash for their modules, the thing wouldn't probably cost less than $2k anyway. The markup is reasonable by NAD if they pay anything near what we would for Hypex modules. We don't know how many PSU's it features.
Is the case steel/partially? Sure... Do you own the equipment to make those cases? F no. You don't.
This mentality of thinking everyone is a crook that doesn't give you their shit at cost is something I can't wait to die out largely as baby boomers die. It's literally crushed small businesses in communities and now national/international for many years.
$10k, well I'm not sure where you get another $7k in markup from, maybe it's correct, but I can understand a discrepancy with that potential since you can't do too much to the Ncore boards for upgrades.
If anything when I first looked at this, I thought, good a reasonably priced Ncore for those that want a warranty and no DIY or custom work.