Sony Reader availability in US stores - what's going on?

[sonyreaderfan]

I recently bought a Sony Reader PRS 950 and love it. I would hate to see Sony out of the ereader game. But right now I'm really puzzled with the recent news about availability of Sony Reader in the US department stores.

- Borders is clearing out the Pocket Edition and Sony Readers is general.
http://www.mediabistro.com/ebooknews...-borders_b8951

- So is Best Buy
There are already threads in this forum on Best Buy clearing out the Pocket Edition. But if you go to the Best Buy web site and do a search for Sony Reader, Best Buy also says that the PRS 950 is 'not available for shipping.' All the while Best Buy carries crappy ereaders like Pandigital.

It seems that you can't get the PRS 650 and PRS 950 except on the Sonystyle.com website. (Bhphoto still carries the PRS 350. It use to carry PRS 650 and 950 but now those models are gone from the website)

What's going on with Sony Reader in the U.S.? Does anyone have inside info?

[sabredog]

Not sure if the same thing applies in the US, but Borders (Australia) told me last month that they have lost the agreement to sell Sony product, so they were focusing solely on the Kobo ereader.

Perhaps that is the reason?

[Aurora W]

The news about Borders doesn't really surprise me, with all the other problems they've been having (we just lost our local store).

As for Best Buy......I wish they would make up their minds on what they want to carry. And then actually carry it.

What did surprise me was the total lack of 950s and accessories the last time I visited the closest Sony Style store. They barely had a Pocket Edition on display. Not sure if it was just the local store, or if Sony is just not really backing any of the eReaders in their stores anymore. Is kind of sad, especially when you consider the displays (and sales help!) that they had for them just over a year ago...