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Companies are concerned with the bottom line.
Most companies that use DRM do so because they believe not using it will hurt their bottom line. This may be through reducing losses due to piracy, encouraging repeat sales of the same content as a way of format-shifting, or even enticing creators who believe in DRM to release content through them.
It's also important to note that publishers who insist on eBook DRM are not simply thinking of eBook sales. Many are also concerned that DRM-free eBooks may lead to decreased pBook sales. This is particularly true when dealing with books with large advances.
If a publisher pays a large advance for a given book, they are going to want to get as many sales from the more expensive editions as possible as it lets them recover that cost. Hardcover royalties are a bigger percentage of a larger cover price which helps recover those costs more rapidly that paperbacks. Readily available cheap eBook editions could hurt hardcover sales and possibly make the difference between a book that earns out and one that doesn't.
I'm not saying that this is what happens, but it is a concern.
One way Baen gets around this is by having three separate eBook releases for their top titles. First the eArc, then twice through webscriptions.
The end result is that there may be companies that are deliberately using DRM and inflated eBook prices to drive customers toward higher-priced pBook editions. Remember, the publisher sells to the distributor not the reader, so they don't take the same hit from deep discounting as retailers do.
The only way to solve the problem of DRM is to unequivocally demonstrate that not using DRM helps a company's overall bottom line. It's not enough to increase eBook sales; it's also necessary to make it appear that hardcover sales aren't falling off because of it.
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