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The problem with fiction ebook pricing is that you also have to figure in part of the cost of the reading device too. (I don't count computers but I do count part of the cost of multifunction devices and the whole cost of dedicated devices: eg. eBookwise 1150 or Sony Libre.) So it is costing you a lot more to read that ebook than just the cover price. Other things to consider, I can't lend, resell or give away an ebook so therefore it has less value to me as the owner.
Another factor with the big publishers: I can buy a used mass market paperback down the street for $4. Now nobody is earning any royalties on that used paperback. A book that came out as a pbook in 2002 is now being sold used. So, it would seem to me that it would be in the publishers' and authors' best interest to price ebook editions, that have been in circulation for awhile, much closer to a used bookstore price rather than trying to keep the price so high. So the length of time in print might be factored into the calculations of price.
I still think that electronic editions of books by new or midlist authors do need to be priced with enticing the first time reader to try the book and the author.
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