So nobody was buying them...
Exactly...
$1500+ for a laptop, any laptop, is still a high price these days...especially for a 13" display. Most folks can get a great laptop for under $1000 with or without lots of bells and whistles. The only people that spend over $1000 for a laptop are power users that need the RAM/CPU/Drive specs.
Mac Fans can reply all they want about the sleekness and the Flash drive vs. mechanical and Retina...but at the end of the day there is a very, very small % of people that will spend this kind of money for a laptop. Hence the improvements AND price drop by Apple.