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There are a number of reasons why you don't see that many backlist ebooks from the big publishers:
1) If the paper book is out of print, the rights have probably reverted to the author.
2) If the paper book is in print, if the contract was original signed before around 2000, the publisher probably doesn't have the ebook rights.
3) If the publishers have electronic files, they're probably PDF or other print prepress files that are not suitable for creating ebooks.
4) Even if the publishers were willing to pay the couple thousand it would cost to create ebook editions of the backlist books (not including author advance or royalties), they aren't interested in charging a couple dollars for them even if it meant that they'd recoup their cost quicker through higher sales (not that that would be guaranteed anyway). They are afraid that the backlist sales will cannibalize new book sales, especially if the backlist books are priced lower than new book sales.
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