The future of Sony Ericsson, a joint-venture between Sony Corp. and Ericsson, can hardly be called cloudless, but a high-ranking executive from Sony Ericsson still does not rule out unveiling of a PlayStation-branded phone, a holy grail of the struggling maker of handsets that should never be released to the market, according to Sony.

Hideki Komiyama, president of Sony Ericsson, said in an interview with Financial Times news-paper that Sony Ericsson PlayStation-branded phone “could happen” in case both parties are interested in creating a handset aimed at gamers. Unfortunately for Sony Ericsson, Sony has so far only allowed its joint-venture to use Cybershot and Walkman brands for phones with advanced photo and music features and the Japanese electronics conglomerate does not seem to like the idea of PlayStation phone. Still, the comment from Hideki Komiyama gives some hope for Sony Ericsson PlayStation handset.

Earlier this year Sony executives reportedly told colleagues at Sony Ericsson that the company would only license the PlayStation brand if and when Sony makes handsets independently, which is effectively pushing for an exit from the joint venture with Ericsson. Nonetheless, Ericsson had its own explanation on the matter: there is no PlayStation phone in the plans since there is no powerful enough hardware for it.

“In the past, we have been keen that our product proposition lives up to brand promise, and we feel at the moment the technical specs are not high enough to put such a prestigious brand on a phone,” said a spokeswoman for Sony Ericsson.

Sony Ericsson has failed to popularize its smartphones in the recent years due to various reasons and has never truly entered luxurious and stylish phones that would compete against Nokia 8-series or Motorola Razr devices. Therefore, the company does need to introduce variety of high-end phones to boost its margins and get profitable.

Mr. Komiyama said in  an interview that Sony Ericsson would release two advanced smartphones in 2009 and the third in 2010. Those smartphones will utilize operating systems developed by other companies: Google Android, Microsoft Windows Mobile and Nokia Symbian.

Tags: Sony, Sony Ericsson, PSP, Playstation