Can anyone tell me why these leads are so expensive?
Even a short one will cost you an arm and a leg.
I bought a 1 metre (3ft) one of these the other day when I found (after owning the 21" LCD screen on my desktop computer, for a year) that the monitor had an HDMI input.

It cost me NZ$33, I can't get over the price of these things.
Funny thing is, I can't say the picture is any better either.

I do see them cheaper occasionally
Gearxs has one for $5US but shipping down under may add some bucks.
http://www.gearxs.com/gearxs/product_info.php?products_id=14361

BTW the conspiracy buff in me says HDMI is a scam.
There is digital management hardware in the adapter. When they turn that on your bootlegged CDs and DVDs will stop working.

Greg,
While I'm not really into conspiracy theories, there may be something in what you are saying.
This could be the reason why you cant buy HDMI connectors to make your own cables.
You can however buy the sockets that fit to a wall-plate.

This DRM hardware is in the adapter not the cable and as soon as they get a universal DRM protocol on the digital content you will see a lot of things you used to be able to do, stop working. They can't stop people from copying content but they are going to stop you from playing it ... or at least that is the plan. Like most things, some 15 year old will have this cracked an a few days.

Go the 15 year olds, I say!!

I have a supplier that sells HDMI cables for a fraction of the price you pay retail. If I take the packaging off you cannot tell the difference. The plugs have the same mold. A 6 ft cable is $7.30. Same cable at the big retailer is $39.95. Robert

That isn't the point, Robert.
The question I ask is why you can't buy HDMI male plugs, just like any other generic connector?
What is so special about a HDMI connector that it can only be bought as a pre-made assembly?

I doubt most mere mortals could actually solder something that tiny on and still have any reasonable signal integrity.

Well Greg,
I'd certainly like to give it a go.
I've soldered some pretty intricate stuff before today.(SMD's spring to mind)
Having said that, this is not the sort of thing that Joe Homeowner with his 80 Watt Chisel tipped soldering iron should attempt, it's only going to end in tears.