One thing that puts the Sony readers at special risk is that the ereader division has been run out of California ever since they bailed out of Japan. Given how well the various divisions at Sony *don't* get along, the reader folks can't count on support from the japanese hardware guys.
As for their announced return to Japan; they were looking to do it with the exact same models now shipping so it is doubtful they have new anything in the pipeline.
http://www.sonyinsider.com/2010/06/0...international/
(Note that the announcement of the Readers going international came out of the US, not Japan.)
Oh, and yes; Sony's TVs have been doing better of late: they just announced a decent profit for the latest quarter.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/29/p...bove-expectat/