Sure they can, if Nokia was not once on contract with Intel I highly doubt they would even release this phone. If they wanted to sell it to the large masses they would not try to overshadow it by the upcoming wp7 handset(s) and make it virtually unobtainable for people in many countries. (I'm with ya folks)

Given the development and funds Nokia put into this device it would not be very profitable. Maybe approx. 1000 euros per device if they can sell all they produce(d) would be nessacery before even a profit can be made. If they did that they would look stupid so they don't, because they probably still care about their image. Besides Nokia has more devices to worry about, the N9 was never meant to take over the world.

I'm getting one anyways

Disclaimer: The previous has been all speculation based on personal experience/estimations.