Sony Ericsson’s Xperia X10, formerly code-named “Rachel,” is just way too hot for its own good. It’s a great looking phone, and running Android on a 1GHz Snapdragon processor puts internal beauty in-line with external. You’re going to pay a hefty price for the allure, though. According to the Wall Street Journal the phone will run $879 off contract. Yes, you read that correctly. $879.

If anything scares away American cell consumers it’s high sticker price. Anyone walking around a carrier’s showroom would practically vomit to see such a price, even after you’d explained the contract system in full detail. That’s probably why Sony Ericsson is looking for a carrier to partner with on this side of the pond. The company has never made much of an impact over here, mostly because of high prices.

Though the article didn’t mention, it seems plausible that the search for a carrier has delayed the phone’s release. The product page used to list a February launch. That’s gone now, back to TBA in the meantime.