Sony Ericsson was initially announced as a launch partner for Windows Phone 7, but leaked prototypes aside, phones never materialized. Now we're getting an idea why, as CEO and President Bert Nordberg called the OS inferior to Google's Android in a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal. "At this point I wouldn't feel comfortable investing in a platform that isn't as good as the one we currently use," he said when asked about Microsoft's operating system. "Therefore we have remained with Android, but I am quite curious about Windows Phone." Going all-in with Android has been paying off — slowly. Nordberg steered the company aggressively towards the smartphone market since taking the reigns two years ago, and has introduced a slate of Android-powered devices like the Xperia Arc S and Xperia Play gaming phone. While the move hasn't reversed the downward trend in marketshare yet — SE recently hit just 1.7 percent worldwide, down from 4.3 percent at the start of Nordberg's tenure — it's gradually improving its financials. The company would have finally been profitable again this past quarter had it not been for the hit component suppliers took from the tsunami in Japan.

Nordberg also admitted the company failed to take Apple's iPhone seriously in 2007 — a refrain we've heard far too many times from too many companies — though he sees growth ahead, touting recent deals with Verizon and AT&T as a means to penetrate the U.S. market. And while he did stress the company's need to "broaden our U.S. product portfolio" to gain traction stateside, it sounds like Microsoft still has some work to do before convincing Sony Ericsson to come back into the fold. Check out the source for the full interview.