I cant help but think that a better option would have been to offer a "recovery usb stick" for extra 50 bucks which would contain the recovery data and save the extra space for the user to make the device more attractive to the buyer.
It's not insane, it's a rational marketing decision. Users buy on the headline price, and price plus $50 would be much less attractive. People who want to move the recovery partition to their own choice of "recovery usb stick" can do so.
