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Originally Posted by Bionicman
Keep in mind: while I haven't seen any sales figures for the first season, I've heard from several people that U.S. sales were rather disappointing. Apparently, they thought that the hype the series generated in Japan and on the internet (especially with fansub groups) would translate into big sales (by anime standards), and it didn't pan out. The point is, the series isn't exactly a hot property to any U.S. companies. From a business perspective, it's a series where the first season underperformed, the second season is probably going to do even worse, and you either have to pay a bunch of big name voice actors to reprise their roles or go in a different direction (new actors or sub only) and risk further fallout. I wouldn't hold my breath for a U.S. release. On the bright side, if it does come out, it'll be cheaper; they won't bother with the limited editions, and they may give in and release half-season/season packs.
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The anime licensing industry has gone through major consolidations and it's future is bleak at best with the rise of broadband internet. Quite possible that the release of S2 with english subs is an experiment to see if Kadokawa can skip the whole proces. One R2 LE set sold abroad can easily compensate for a dozen or more season boxes not sold by licensees. Not to mention that internet vendors already sell the merchandise directly from Japan.
Think the Haruhi franchise should be viewed separately from the market. We don't know yet how the sales will develop of S2. Maybe E8 had a damaging effect, but it's also possible that a lot of fans wait till the Blu-ray comes.
The movie is also a different situation. The first Kyoani movie with the best Haruhi script has a lot of potential for succes and is an opportunity for the company to progress. A season 3 could easily ride on the waves created by that.