This is actually backwards. Texas Instruments made so many bomb chips that they ended up with a surplus. This allowed them to throw those chips into calculators and edge out any competition with lower prices (because they already made the chips, so they weren’t paying for them.) Then once they had run off all the competition, they jacked their prices up.

And that, kids, is why the TI-84 costs $100. It’s tech that costs all of $10 to make and program.