Sorry if this has already been addressed, but I wasn't reading through this entire thread to find out.
According to specs, the 6GH "Mars" has 48 chips, each having a retail price of $315 USD, according to both of the links provided on their site.
What am I missing here? How do you sell $15K worth of chips for ~$2k?
Depends what version of the (same) chip you buy and whether you buy it directly from the manufacturer or not. Some versions of the chip can be discounted up to 70-80%. (315 USD seems a bit high, I thought I had seen them at around 100 at digikey/mouser)
I don't know which exact version of the Cyclone IV E (115K) they are using, but if they are using a "less programmable" one, they might very well buy it for "peanuts". I expect the BOM cum manufacturing would be around 1800 USD.
Don't forget that ORSoC already has partnerships with IC houses.