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Yep, Amazon definitely has the deepest pockets to take a loss on hardware to get people locked into their store. Sony as a whole has deep pockets, but not in their e-reader division. And their stockholders won't be willing to see shares drop because of the e-book division trying to win a price war with Amazon.
Amazon also has name recognition which helps a ton in marketing. People post all the time bitching about being asked if they're Sony (or other reader) is a Kindle. I've never seen a Kindle owner post about being asked if it was a Sony reader or Nook etc.--though some have posted about being asked if it was an iPad.
If Sony is going to stay in the e-reader/e-book game long term, I think it will be through Tablets/Slates and having their e-books store have an app loaded on them. More likely, I think by 5 years down the road (if not sooner) they're out of the e-book division and focused on tablets and slates and have shut down their e-book store.
That said, I know Sony has a much bigger e-book presence outside the US, so maybe I'm underestimating the sway that has.
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