Raftman, if the PTR32 is anything at all like the PTR91, there are definite advantages to the rifle over an AK.
1. The sights are better.
2. The barrel is better, so with a better barrel will likely shoot more accurately than an AK
3. More modular. Can exchange the stock for a collapsible stock if desired.
4. Will accept a lovely FERO- Z scope, great optics at a favorable price point.
5. Will accept an registered autosear as a host rifle if that is something that appeals to you.
You raise some good points, but I think in some regards those advantages can largely be overcome.
1. The sights, there's a wide variety of replacement sights available for AK's, the cost of which, when added to the price of the AK would still be less than a PTR32.
2. In theory the PTR32 may be more accurate but I haven't seen much quantifiable evidence to suggest this is actually universally the case. Some of the higher-end AK's, such as the VEPR's, are significantly more accurate than something like typical WASR-10 and would hold their own against any 7.62x39 semi-auto out there.
3. The PTR does indeed allow for much easier changing out of the stock, but I've had a couple of such HK-style rifles and have found that once I found the stock I preferred, I never bothered to change it again and thus in the grand scheme of things didn't think it was so much different than driving out screws as one does when changing out AK stocks (there's quite a variety out there). If you only have to do it once, changing an AK stock isn't the least bit of a big deal. These kinds of things are admittedly a matter of individual preference, I am sure there are people out there to whom easily switching stocks back and forth is desirable and important.
Lastly, and perhaps more importantly, I seriously doubt that anybody on this board has a true need for any of these weapons, we buy them because we like them and they are fun to shoot... we gain satisfaction from learning a new system and putting rounds where we want them. I surely am not suggesting that you are a communist, nor do I find flaw in your analysis, but sometimes it just doesn't matter what price is. I see nothing wrong with the "I wanna's", and urge that since we are not a communist country where needs trump desires, let's get what we like!
I think here you're right, I am glad that we have the option to even choose from and I certainly understand the want to have something different, it seems like every one has an AK, or an AR, or SKS (or some combination thereof, I myself have one of each for example) and I once heavily considered a PTR32, kept coming back to it at the gun show table and all, but in the end just couldn't abide by a intermediate caliber rifle weighing in at 10+ pounds, especially for $900. If someone wants it, more power to them and I hope they like it and it makes them happy, I was merely explaining why I personally wouldn't choose it.
If you don't have a railed forearm, get one - CzechpointUSA has some, NEA in Canada has some, and Bonesteele Arms has some. Then slap a foregrip on it, problem solved. I have a folding vertical foregrip on one and a MagPul angled foregrip on the other.