At that price point you're competing with a GoPro, which is likely as good or better at a lower price. All (or most?) current GoPros can be used as a webcam.
Actually I tried to do exactly this. Except the gopro webcam software straight up doesn't work and they don't plan on fixing it.
Its depressing really.
That would indeed put a dent in that plan :\ I suppose there are always DSLRs, as those are also sometimes in a similar price bracket (many recent ones can act as a webcam as well).
I gather support / fixes / etc have been rolling out rather slowly, have you tried it in the past few months? Or is it currently that unusable? I certainly wouldn't expect the software to be difficult to build, there are quite a few webcam-emulating projects out there... but then again this is a company's software rather than an interested hobbyist.
GoPro is too clunky to carry around for use with a laptop.
Meanwhile, sensor and lens from a smartphone camera can fit in a small enough form factor that it makes sense to carry it around alongside your laptop.
Almost all laptops have a camera already, crappy as they may be, they still work. I don’t think laptop users are a big market for webcams? Isn’t it more for desktops where you have the luxury of space and bulk?
Growing trend in a niche market I would suggest. I know people who have 2 laptops - one for gaming, one for work (with webcam etc). Because the gaming laptop is too bulky to carry around, it's effectively a desktop.
if you are a gamer, you don't use a laptop. Gaming laptops are great portable desktops effectively. They have little autonomous time gaming or heavy compilations. So they have to be plugged in - they still are not great as a desktop gaming station, though.
I personally use a 'gaming' laptop as the default work computer (it's over 3.7kg w/o the charger which is another 600g)