why are laptops so expensive?

looking for a new laptop....

no one really seems to make 11" or 12" laptops anymore, like a few manufacturers do but thats rare.

and then i look at the specs vs price, and its nuts. $500+ for a basic 14" laptop with a celeron or a low spec i3/i5, 8gb ram, and 256gb ssd.

hp has been selling the same model of hp stream 11 and 14 for almost a decade now, and the specs have not changed at all. and they still want $300 CAD,