Not everyone can afford a high-end Android smartphone. Devices costing $400 and more are out of reach for many users in the emerging markets of the world and for them handset makers are launching entry-level devices.

According to In-Stat, Android is set to dominate this low-cost smartphone segment (which BTW is defined by price – under $150), with almost 340 million such Android-based smartphones shipping in 2015.

However, these low-end phones will cause fragmentation in the Android platform. In other words, users shouldn’t expect a $150 phone to run Ice Cream Sandwich — such a device will most likely ship with Froyo or Gingerbread on board, both of which work better on lower-specced hardware.

Some other findings from In-Stat’s report include:

The low-end low-cost smartphones generally stick with EDGE and processors running at 600MHz speeds or less, and a single-core EDGE chip sells for well under $10.

Smaller phone manufacturers will sometimes purchase from the “gray market” where component manufacturers typically don’t pay licensee fees, royalties, and taxes for the products they produce.

Early competitors in the market include Huawei, MicroMax, Motorola, Samsung, Spice, and ZTE.

And you can get all additional information from In-Stat’s website.