I acquired a Panasonic LX3 a couple of years ago for traveling when it was just not practical to take along my K20. The new Pentax Q and the LX3 appear to be reasonably close in physical dimensions, with the Q being a bit smaller. The other central point is that both the Q and the LX3 have the same sized sensor. The price I paid for the LX3 was $400.
I see a market position for the Q - high end, small physical size, and [hopefully] with a high image quality. The LX3 has a Leica f2 lens 2.5x, and if you keep the ISO below 800 you will do ok. Better IQ is achieved at ISO 80 and 100.
You see a lot of folks looking for P&S with very large zoom lens ranges - the super zooms and the bridge cameras. The Q's interchangeable lenses will cover that need to the extent of the available lenses.
The cost of the body and a kit lens of $800 is a bit rich. Even with a reduced price of $700 it is still pricy. The LX3 was somewhat of a specialized camera - wide angle low light, and had sold out of stock several times over the last couple of years, thus pushing the units price to a rather high premium. So the demand can be there, if the buying public perceives the quality and convince. Now the economy has turned for the worse, but I think that the market is still there - probably to a smaller degree, however more in the $500 to $600 range, I would think.
I really do not think that it helps with the perception of Pentax to have the "toy" label attached to the lenses. That is just plain self defeating....
If you are going to look at the Q, then you are probably looking at the Olympus EP1 and EP2, along with Sony NEX. When all is said and done, I do not see the smaller sensor Q being able to maintain an equivalent prices with the u43 cameras, especially when you factor in the lenses.....